There is no question that voters in the USA have a definite choice between two presidential candidates with a very different vision for America’s future. The contrast could not be more stark or definitive. Jamar Tisby an African American scholar, suggests that two paths lie ahead in this election: a white Christian nationalist authoritarian vision or a participatory or a multi-racial democracy that moves us toward a more perfect union.[i] Let’s look at two dramatically different options.
Trump Envisions a Whiter Future for America
Recently the Trump campaign posted on X a picture of a peaceful residential neighborhood which was captioned “Your Neighborhood Under Trump.” This tranquil scene was juxtaposed with a chaotic image of Black and Hispanic migrants who’d arrived last summer with the caption “Your Neighborhood Under Kamala.” The post declared: “Import the third world, become the third world.” [ii] This blatantly racist post is consistent with Trump’s maligning of immigrants and refugees, falsely claiming that countries are emptying their prisons and insane asylums and sending them to the U.S. Nothing could be further from the truth, especially considering the extreme vetting process for almost everyone who wishes to resettle in this country. And to make matters worse, Trump has promised to use the military to round up over 15 million allegedly undocumented immigrants, place them in detention camps, and then deport them—much to the dismay of economists who say this would have a devastating affect on the U.S. economy.
While Trump has a history of using xenophobic rhetoric, his campaign’s recent posts represent a troubling shift to overt racism and are helping to mainstream a theory that was previously confined to white-nationalist fringe groups. Trump has embraced the White Christian Nationalist vision of an America that is primarily Christian and where white descendants of European immigrants can be restored to their rightful place of privilege. This is the dream of White Supremacists and one that 60% of Republicans appear to yearn for. Fearmongering is part of Trump’s campaign strategy, convincing voters that the Great Replacement conspiracy theory is real; that left-wing politicians and others are deliberately replacing the white population in the U.S. with migrants of color, threatening not only an historical place of privilege but the very existence of the white race itself.
Sojourner Editor, Adam Russell Taylor, writes: “We must replace the Great Replacement theory with biblical truth…First and foremost, the great replacement theory denies the imago dei (Genesis 1:27), the core belief that every person is made in the very image of God and possesses inherent dignity and equal worth. In contrast, replacement theory is super-charged by a belief in a hierarchy of human value that views white Americans as the “true Americans” and sees increasing racial, ethnic, and religious diversity as a threat rather than as a strength…The great replacement theory also contradicts Jesus’ example that we must show a particular love for those who are deemed the “other” and the marginalized. Racism distorts and blinds us to who is our neighbor. If nonwhite Americans are perpetually considered as an “other,” it becomes easier to justify dehumanizing them and denying them the same rights and privileges as white Americans. A commitment to loving and seeing the full humanity in the “other” also serves as a powerful antidote to a racialized zero-sum worldview in which the advances made by any minority group must come at the expense of the majority —white Americans, in our nation's case.[iii]
Fulfilling the American Dream of a Multi-Ethnic, Religiously Diverse Democracy
What kind of a future does the candidacy of Kamala Harris offer for America? Perhaps there is a clue in her own personal make-up as a multiracial woman of African and Asian descent. She was raised Hindu by her mother, a native of India, then taken by a neighbor to the Church of God in Oakland, California. As an adult, Harris joined a Black Baptist Church—the Third Baptist Church of San Francisco. She then married a Jewish man, Douglas Emhoff, who grew up attending a Reform synagogue in New Jersey. As a couple, they respect and celebrate one another’s faith traditions.
The September issue of The Christian Century suggests that Kamala Harris’ multireligious identity is a map of America’s future. “Every U.S. president has identified as Christian, and that will not change if Harris is elected president, her religious biography will not only be history-making but will also connect her to the ways many people in the U.S. practice and encounter faith…That slice of the U.S. religious scene is growing. Almost two in five Americans (39 percent) who have married since 2010 have a spouse who is in a different religious group, according to a 2015 Pew Research survey. Pew also found that 20 percent of marriages in the U.S. were interracial.” [iv]
Harris offers a positive diversity story for America. She also represents the true religious story of many Americans. It especially resonates with younger voters who increasingly find they interact with and support a partner of a different faith tradition. Her candidacy embraces a hope that everyone—regardless of race, creed, or station in life—will be and is a valued and important member of this democracy. Unlike Trump, Harris believes that immigration is a source of renewal and vitality for our country. And most importantly, she affirms that our diversity as a country is America’s greatest strength.
[2]Adapted from an article by Charles Sykes, “The Trump Campaign Endorses a Racist Theory,” The Atlantic Daily, August14, 2024.
[3] Adam Russell Taylor, “Christians Can’t Be Lukewarm in Denouncing Replacement Theory,” Sojourner Magazine, May 19,2022.
[4] Yonat Shimron, “Kamala Harris’s multireligiousidentity is a map of the future,” The Christian Century, September, 2024.