Religion, Race, and American Ideas of Freedom

FAIN: FT-56167-08

Paul Harvey
University of Colorado, Colorado Springs (Colorado Springs, CO 80918-3733)

RELIGION, RACE, AND AMERICAN IDEAS OF FREEDOM explores the long and complex relationship between the struggle for human and civil rights in American history, the legacy of race and racism, and the complicated role of religious institutions and individuals in this story. By demanding rights of religious expression, creating independent religious institutions, and nurturing religious communities, historically subjugated groups have redefined American freedom and citizenship. American practices of religious freedom often have been formulated from within ethno-religious communities, through struggles defined by the participants as deeply spiritual ones. By putting religious thought and practice at the center of the narrative, and covering a broad expanse of time and a wide array of peoples socially ranked by class and racial tags, this work retells the story of American freedom.

Associated Products

The Color of Christ: The Son of God and the Saga of Race in America (Book)
Title: The Color of Christ: The Son of God and the Saga of Race in America
Author: Paul Harvey and Edward J. Blum
Abstract: How is it that in America the image of Jesus Christ has been used both to justify the atrocities of white supremacy and to inspire the righteousness of civil rights crusades? In The Color of Christ, Edward J. Blum and Paul Harvey weave a tapestry of American dreams and visions--from witch hunts to web pages, Harlem to Hollywood, slave cabins to South Park, Mormon revelations to Indian reservations--to show how Americans remade the Son of God visually time and again into a sacred symbol of their greatest aspirations, deepest terrors, and mightiest strivings for racial power and justice.
Year: 2012
Primary URL: http://www.uncpress.unc.edu/browse/book_detail?title_id=3056
Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
Type: Multi-author monograph
ISBN: 978-1-4696-188
Copy sent to NEH?: Yes

Bounds of Their Habitation: Race and Religion in American History (Book)
Title: Bounds of Their Habitation: Race and Religion in American History
Abstract: There is an “American Way” to religion and race unlike anyplace else in the world, and the rise of religious pluralism in contemporary American (together with the continuing legacy of the racism of the past and misapprehensions in the present) render its understanding crucial. Paul Harvey’s Bounds of Their Habitation, the latest installment in the acclaimed American Ways Series, concisely surveys the evolution and interconnection of race and religion throughout American history. Harvey pierces through the often overly academic treatments afforded these essential topics to accessibly delineate a narrative between our nation’s revolutionary racial and religious beginnings, and our increasingly contested and pluralistic future. Anyone interested in the paths America’s racial and religious histories have traveled, where they’ve most profoundly intersected, and where they will go from here, will thoroughly enjoy this book and find its perspectives and purpose essential for any deeper understanding of the soul of the American nation
Year: 2016
Primary URL: https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781442236189/Race-and-Religion-in-American-History-Bounds-of-Their-Habitation#
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Type: Single author monograph
ISBN: 978-1-4422-361
Copy sent to NEH?: No

Race and Christianity in the American South (Book)
Title: Race and Christianity in the American South
Author: Paul Harvey
Abstract: The history of race and religion in the American South is infused with tragedy, survival, and water—from St. Augustine on the shores of Florida’s Atlantic Coast to the swampy mire of Jamestown to the floodwaters that nearly destroyed New Orleans. Determination, resistance, survival, even transcendence, shape the story of race and southern Christianities. In Christianity and Race in the American South, Paul Harvey gives us a narrative history of the South as it integrates into the story of religious history, fundamentally transforming our understanding of the importance of American Christianity and religious identity. Harvey chronicles the diversity and complexity in the intertwined histories of race and religion in the South, dating back to the first days of European settlement. He presents a history rife with strange alliances, unlikely parallels, and far too many tragedies, along the way illustrating that ideas about the role of churches in the South were critically shaped by conflicts over slavery and race that defined southern life more broadly. Race, violence, religion, and southern identity remain a volatile brew, and this book is the persuasive historical examination that is essential to making sense of it.
Year: 2016
Primary URL: http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/C/bo24960997.html
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Type: Single author monograph
ISBN: 9780226415352
Copy sent to NEH?: No

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