In Conversation: Anthea Butler and Melissa Harris-Perry

The American political scene today is poisonously divided, and white evangelicals play a strikingly unified and powerful role in the disunion. These evangelicals raise an important question for electoral politics: Why do they claim morality while supporting politicians who act immorally by most Christian measures? In "White Evangelical Racism: The Politics of Morality in America," Anthea Butler answers that racism is at the core of conservative evangelical activism and power, and, since the nation’s founding, has played a provocative role in fracturing the electorate. Hear Butler, who is Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Africana Studies and Interim Chair of Religious Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, discuss her latest work with Melissa Harris-Perry, the Maya Angelou Presidential Chair in the Department of Politics and International Affairs and the Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Wake Forest University.