Heresies of Whiteness

FALSE GOSPEL is interwoven throughout both our national identity and theological imagination. In Reconstructing the Gospel, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove excavates our common story alongside his own lineage. With thorough historical analysis, Wilson-Hartgrove confronts misguided narratives of “who we are” and illumines our current sociopolitical reality.

Beginning with America’s original sin of slavery, Wilson-Hartgrove moves through the Reconstruction era and subsequent redemption struggle, the Jim Crow South, the civil rights movement, and finally, to the truth of today: Systems of enslavement aren’t gone, they’ve merely evolved into new forms. Along the way, Wilson-Hartgrove highlights those who have baptized the sin of racism—from missionaries on slave ships to slavery-supporting preachers Thornton Stringfellow and George Washington Freeman and to Franklin Graham and the Moral Majority—and outlines the destructive patterns of racial blindness, racial habits, and racial politics.

Wilson-Hartgrove reveals that he is “a child of Klan country,” an heir to the sickness of racism. “A man torn in two,” he writes, divided between what Frederick Douglas described as the Christianity of this land and the Christianity of Christ. Reconstructing the Gospel tells of his own untethering from slaveholder religion.

In perhaps the most compelling chapter, titled “Living in Skin,” Wilson-Hartgrove examines how this tradition affects white folks’ dis-ease with embodied life. He asks, “What evil spirit has left us out of touch with our bodies?” Believing the myth of white supremacy requires relinquishing full humanity. “You can’t shut up compassion in a human heart one minute and then go back to normal the next,” says Wilson-Hartgrove. In the process, white folk lose sight of their bodies and solely elevate the spirit. A disconnected body and spirit results in a “fail[ure] to connect faith and politics in meaningful, consistent ways.”

Wilson-Hartgrove insists that the gospel is fundamentally about reconstructing fragmented lives. “A gospel that doesn’t confront racism is no gospel at all,” he writes. For those seeking freedom from the wages of whiteness, the good news begins with a posture of humility. Humility led Wilson-Hartgrove to divest from the illusions of slaveholder religion and turn toward the gospel of Jesus, embodied by the faith-rooted, black-led freedom movement.

Reconstructing the Gospel seemingly flounders in its appeal to a theology of original sin. That white people inherit the lie of human hierarchy is a fundamental truth. However, for those sickened by white supremacy, there must be something deeper than a generational investment in the delusion of race, a starting point beyond sin and trauma. Otherwise, a crippled conscience leads to a cycle of shame, which ultimately moves away from transformation and toward despondency.

Healing must begin with what practitioners in the field of moral injury call “identity reformation.” White people must re-learn how to be. Wilson-Hartgrove writes: “Our brokenness is an inextricable part of who we’ve imagined ourselves to be.” The way of salvation is reconstructing identity not in sinfulness, but in goodness.

Wilson-Hartgrove integrates the black-led freedom movement with monastic wisdom. From the Benedictine tradition, the central practices of listening, staying put, and constantly reforming your life are suggested “for people in America who want to unlearn whiteness ... to embrace the Christianity of Christ.” The practice of listening to marginalized voices enlarges hearts and creates the capacity to identify racial blindness, habits, and politics.

Amid discomfort, grief, and lament, Wilson-Hartgrove urges people to maintain a posture of stability and presence. White people must faithfully respond to the lament they’ve engaged and the people they’ve heard, while knowing that “each step [they] take is both insufficient and inadequate.” Committing to reformation requires adapting new information and standing in solidarity with those brutalized by white supremacy.

Those desiring salvation from slaveholder religion will find no blind optimism, easy antidotes, or sweeping appeals to racial reconciliation. Wilson-Hartgrove writes: “The last thing any attempt to reconstruct the gospel in America needs is a white man to lead the charge.” Instead, Wilson-Hartgrove submits himself to the leadership of people of color. In the process, he extends his own vulnerability and provides gentle guidance for white folks on the journey to freedom. Because of this and more, Reconstructing the Gospel is an important book.