Kathryn Gin Lum, “Heathen: Religion and Race in American History,” in conversation with Michele Elam

What is the relationship between religious intolerance and racism? This talk focuses on the American history of attitudes towards the “heathen” and asks whether we might consider religious intolerance to be racist and the “heathen” to be a racial figure. While some scholars have maintained that race requires a perception of innate difference, this talk will suggest that it is the very changeability of the “heathen” that underlies American racial governance and a white savior complex.
RSVP