In the weeks following the attack on the Capitol, many Americans debated whether the violence was a singular event or the result of deeper forces. Voters, Congress and a former president are arguing over who is to blame.
To Kelly J. Baker, a writer and public scholar of religion and racial hatred, the attack seemed familiar and made her nervous. Many protesters, a predominantly white group, were motivated by religious fervor and saw themselves as participants in a kind of holy war. Some brought confederate flags, others crosses. Some who invoked the name of Jesus were members of far-right groups such as the Proud Boys, whose participants adopted misogynist and anti-immigrant views. Some were motivated by QAnon’s conspiracy theories and falsehoods, as well as by their conservative Christian faith.
In many ways, it reminded the culture of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s and the group’s march in Washington in 1925, said Baker, who was previously a professor of religious studies at the University of Tennessee. Many Americans associate the KKK with white hoods, burning crosses and anti-black racism, but are less familiar with its white Protestant ambitions and antipathy towards Catholics and Jews. Dr. Baker explores this story in her book “Gospel According to Klan: The KKK’s Call to Protestant America, 1915-1930”, published by the University Press of Kansas in 2011.
In a conversation with The New York Times that was edited extensively, Dr. Baker reflected on how white Protestant Christianity and nationalism have long intertwined – even a dominant movement – and how many white churches today still lack supremacy white.
I thought about starting with a direct question. Are the connections between white Christianity and extremism new?
No. White Christianity and this extremism of Trump’s white supremacy are definitely not a new combination. I would step back a little on the language of extremism to say that some of these things have been remarkably popular in American history. I just think that what we’re seeing now is a dramatic form of that.
What does the attack on the Capitol remind you historically?
This reminds me of some of the Klan actions of the 1920s, when they marched on Washington with hoods and cloaks and carrying flags and crosses to show their dominance and presence in American life.
This was the largest Klan order in American history, millions of members in all 48 continental states. Typically, estimates are four to six million. The people were bankers, dentists, lawyers, pastors and politicians. This involved white men and women. They explicitly represented white supremacy and white Protestantism. Without a doubt, it is an evangelical movement as well. To be a member, you should be a white Christian. You had to support nationalism and patriotism. They actively encouraged members to go to church. Their language was definitely influenced by evangelicalism, the way they talk about Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
At the time, what was happening to white Christians who were not members?
The Klan was a dramatic example of what many other whites would understand: the importance of Christianity, patriotism, that there was an unspoken agreement on white supremacy.
There are people who are neutralizing these white people who are doing this, but white supremacy was not a controversial topic. The Klan was very frank and honest about using that term. So many other white Christians may have the same beliefs as them, but the Klan has increased to 11. These people were taking the hood and the mantle to say that America needs to be saved, from immigrants, from people of color.
Did this combination start in the 1920s? Where does it start?
Without a doubt, we can talk about how the combination of Christianity and white supremacy goes to the American foundation, with the first peoples like the Puritans appearing and claiming that they are the nation on a hill and that this is now their land and they have dominion over she. It is not as if we could say that the Klan came from the Puritans. But a variety of different movements at different times adopt the same ideas, rhetoric and practices.
What are you observing about this current period of extremism and Christianity. How does this compare to previous waves?
As a historian, you sometimes think, “I don’t know if I can take this moment in history and bring it to the present.” But you can definitely find that if you look at a 1920s Klan newspaper, there was a similar language about God and there is a similar language about the threat to the nation, from immigrants or Catholics or Jews. It looked so familiar.
Some of the differences are interesting. Klans’ men wore hoods and cloaks, so they didn’t share their identity. One of the interesting things for me about this movement now is the willingness of people to make their beliefs public. I think they were encouraged by Trump’s behavior.
This seems a little different to me from the more polished version that the 1920s Klan wanted to have, where they are very careful with their rhetoric and very attentive about how they presented their Christianity, and were very interested in having a smooth PR. machine to make them respectable. I have a hard time imagining a Klan riot on the Capitol.
The Klan was not as apocalyptic as some of the people today are, you know, where they are thinking about the end of the world.
What do you think of conservative Christians who condemn violence on Capitol Hill?
It is interesting that there are conservative Christians who support Trump, but say that violence is a step too far. I think this is important. But I have that kind of feeling that it means they’re OK with everything else. Like, violence is a step too far, but is white supremacy? Is the anti-immigrant impulse? Are they also convinced that something happened to the election and should Trump have remained president?
Part of the Klan downfall of the 1920s is that there were Klan leaders who went too far. There have been a few cases involving Klans’ men that involved a lot of violence. So people started to desert because they don’t want to be associated. But I think the important thing about this is that Klansmen and Klanswomen were on board with exclusion. They agree with the anti-immigrant sentiment. They are totally there for white supremacy. It is that when the violence reached a certain moment, they felt that they should retreat. And it looks similar to me here.
We have also seen a lot of anti-Semitism among Trump’s extremists. How does this fit historically with white Christians?
In 1890, there was pressure against immigrants, mainly Catholic and Jewish immigrants. We definitely had that with the 1920s Klan, that the two groups she was mostly against were Catholics and Jews, again with a deep concern that somehow the character of the nation would be changed if it were not so dominated by white Christians, Protestant Christians. They were nervous about the emancipation of blacks as well, but much of their efforts were directed at other religious groups.
Is the extremism we are seeing similar to the rise of Islamic extremism? We made this distinction between Islam and Islamic extremism. Does this apply to Christianity in the United States?
I don’t think we should flatten out and say that Christianity is equal to Christian extremism in the same way that we shouldn’t say that Islam is just the same as Islamic fundamentalism. But I think we have to find out what’s up with these traditions – and the people who are part of those traditions and have practices and beliefs – that makes extremism a possibility.
How central is this moment? Are we at the end of something, are we at the beginning of something?
Whether it’s a beginning or an end, I think one of the things we can’t take our eyes off is the question: How could we get here? I think there’s still a lot of ‘I don’t know how it happened’ going on right now. It is a mistake to assume that this is some kind of anomaly that we can simply overcome. It is a dangerous mistake because I think we need to be very careful about the role of politicians in conducting this type of thing, the role of social media.
I am not overly optimistic that we are at the end of this type of violence. I am not. And I think part of that comes from researching white supremacist movements for over 15 years.
I’m wondering how much white, conservative American Christianity is changing. Are there any historical lessons of hope?
There must still be a reckoning within the white Christian churches about white supremacy. There needs to be very careful talk about this, not like “Individuals are prejudiced”, but about “This is the system that we all inhabit”.
There were white Christian leaders in the 1920s who were anti-Klan. We see this happening within some white churches, which paid close attention to the movement for the life of blacks and understood that they have a job in this. There are flashes of hope.
But I think there must still be a reckoning with what churches, leaders and organizations are involved in something like the January 6 events. And this will require a lot of examination of conscience and interrogation.