At America’s founding, the promise of religious freedom was not extended to Black and Indigenous people. What’s more, religion was sometimes used to justify slavery, Jim Crow, and systemic racism. When the separation of church and state is breached, its interaction with systemic racism unduly harms people of color.
White Christian nationalists are an increasing threat to religious freedom and racial equity. Trump’s now-defunct travel ban targeted people from African nations and Muslim-majority countries. And Black churches remain targeted by white Christian nationalists who continue to use religion as an instrument of white supremacy.