U.S. Evangelicals, Race and Racism: The Viewpoint of Christianity Today (1950s–1990s)

The history of the evangelical movement in the United States cannot be understood without focusing on the question of race. The U.S. neo-evangelicals, or simply evangelicals, have comprised a new generation of conservative, mostly white Protestants who since the 1940s–1950s have departed from classical fundamentalism with their less defensive attitude in regard to modern culture and other Christian denominations. Nevertheless, nowadays they are characterized by evident racial differences: the clear majority of evangelicals are white, and their churches are still divided along ethnic lines. This article offers an historical analysis of the relationship between evangelicals, race and racism by exploring the attitude of Christian- ity Today, the magazine founded in 1956 as an expression of moderate evangelicalism. Over the course of time, the magazine problematized racial discourse in different ways, oscillating between antipathy toward the racial desegregation promoted by central government in the late 1950s, and complete advocacy of racial integration in the 1990s.