Race and religion – News, Research and Analysis – The Conversation

Attendees at the 1892 Colored Catholic Congress included the nation’s first openly Black priest, Augustus Tolton, who stands in the middle of the front row. Wikimedia Commons

January 27, 2026

The pioneering path of Augustus Tolton, the first Black Catholic priest in the US – born into slavery, he’s now a candidate for sainthood

Annie Selak, Georgetown University

Augustus Tolton was ordained in Rome in 1886. Previously, the only Black Catholic priests in the US had been men who presented themselves as white.

A 2024 study examined how voters perceive claims that Christians experience widespread discrimination. JTSorrell/iStock via Getty Images Plus

April 18, 2025

Claims of ‘anti‑Christian bias’ sound to some voters like a message about race, not just religion

Rosemary (Marah) Al-Kire, University of Washington; Clara L. Wilkins, University of Washington, and Michael Pasek, University of Illinois Chicago

Some Americans hear claims of anti-Christian bias as a signal of white solidarity, according to a 2024 study.

A stained-glass window that was part of a church shows a dark-skinned Jesus, which was unusual at the time. Michel M. Raguin

April 5, 2024

In 1877, a stained‑glass window depicted Jesus as Black for the first time

Virginia Raguin, College of the Holy Cross

A stained-glass window, which shows Jesus as a Black man for the first time, tells a story not only of race but of gender, class and ethnicity.

Politics, social justice and faith come together each week in many religious leaders’ sermons. AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

November 18, 2021

What Americans hear about social justice at church – and what they do about it

R. Khari Brown, Wayne State University and Ronald Brown, Wayne State University

Race, politics and religion have a long and tangled history in the US. And it all comes together each week in sermons across the country.

Supporters of President Trump put up a cross outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, Win McNamee/Getty Images

January 15, 2021

The Capitol siege recalls past acts of Christian nationalist violence

Samuel Perry, Baylor University

The fusing of Christian nationalism and violent extremism on display during the attack on the US Capitol can be traced, in part, to two incidents in the early 1990s.

Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II speaks outside of the St. John’s Episcopal Church Lafayette Square on June 14, 2020. Oliver Contreras/For The Washington Post via Getty Images

June 17, 2020

Black religious leaders are up front and central in US protests – as they have been for the last 200 years

Lawrence Burnley, University of Dayton

From the earliest days of the anti-slavery movement, Black religious leaders have infused the fight for civil rights with spirituality.

March 15, 2018

It’s not just about race and gender – religious stereotypes need tackling too

Saskia Warren, University of Manchester

The voices and work of leading Muslim women are proving to be pivotal in changing the landscape of gender, race and religious inequalities.

November 22, 2016

Urban activists are forging diverse communities in a divided Europe – here’s how

Shana Cohen, University of Cambridge; Jan-Jonathan Bock, University of Cambridge, and Samuel Everett, University of Cambridge

Religious organisations and community initiatives succeed where disoriented liberal politicians fail.

A voter at a polling station during the New York primary elections in the Manhattan borough of New York City. Brendan McDermid/Reuters

October 20, 2016

Religious feelings could sway the vote in 2016 election

Eric McDaniel, The University of Texas at Austin

How white Republicans and white Democrats feel about Muslims is influencing their candidate choice as well as willingness to vote in the 2016 election.

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