Member-only story
Past Is Prologue
Why White Jesus Must Go
The image is not only inaccurate — it’s harmful
On June 22, 2020, Shaun King tweeted, “Yes, I think the statues of the white European they claim is Jesus should also come down. They are a form of white supremacy.”
Responding to the national call for the removal of confederate flags, statues, monuments, and memorials, Shaun King pressed things even further by demanding the removal of white Jesus.
The internet exploded as Christians throughout the United States proceeded to debate whether Jesus was a symbol of white supremacy. Arguments swirled around Jesus’ true ethnicity and the traditional white European depictions of him, ultimately leading to a call for these lily-white images to be eradicated.
Black Christians chimed in supporting that these images—from statues to paintings to stained glass windows—are not historical but are in fact tools of white supremacist intimidation and indoctrination. Such conversations raise several questions: What is the history of white Jesus? Why are white Christians so uncomfortable imagining Jesus outside of whiteness? And, in light of the progressive temperature of our moment in history, should art in the form of church architecture and paintings be changed?
The history of white Jesus
Lacking a detailed description of Jesus’ physical appearance, many have used art to imagine the form of their savior. David Morgan, professor of religious studies and art history, in his book The Forge of Vision: A Visual History of Modern Christianity, stated, “Portraits of Jesus had become part of European visual piety” as early as the 13th and 14th centuries. During this time, portraits of Jesus tended to resemble the friends and family of the painters. Over time, artists merely reinterpreted paintings of earlier centuries, which led to paintings bearing typically similar characteristics. Morgan writes:
