3210 - The Religious Origins of White Supremacy w/ Robert P. Jones

Happy Monday! Sam and Emma speak with Robert P. Jones, President and Founder of the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), to discuss his recent book The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy: and the Path to a Shared American Future. First, Sam and Emma break down what has taken place over the weekend in Israel and Gaza, as well as the enormous pro-Palestine demonstrations that were held across the world, specifically the massive march that took place in Washington D.C. to demand a ceasefire. Then, they're joined by Robert, who discusses his research on something known as the "discovery doctrine", a policy put in place by colonizers in the 15th century to justify expropriating lands of indigenous peoples abroad in the name of Western/European exploration and conquering, and how that doctrine has even been used to this day to justify anti-indigenous Supreme Court rulings and policy as recently as the early 1990's. Robert also delves in 3 different communities in Minnesota, Oklahoma, and Mississippi and draws a through line between them, highlighting how indignities inflicted by white settlers on indigenous peoples and by racist whites later on in history on black people characterized all of them, with the "discovery doctrine", while with slight permutations, defines the interactions across ethnicities in those areas. Jones also makes clear the connection between Christian nationalism and white supremacy, and how much of the colonizing mindset, from the 15th century conquests of explorers like Hernando de Soto up until the expeditions of settlers moving West during the time of "Manifest Destiny" in the late 1800's, are defined by both ideologies. Before he leaves, Robert threads this particular needle to the present day in the time of Speaker Mike Johnson, someone he refers to as "the embodiment of Christian nationalism in a tailored suit."

And in the Fun Half, Sam and Emma touch on the terrible polling out of the NYTimes/Siena college, as well as ABCNews/Ipsos, that shows Biden's favorability plummeting and him losing multiple hypothetical swing state matchups with Trump, a showing so bad that even David Axelrod wants Biden to consider stepping aside. Then, they check in on some of the progressive House members appearances on the weekend shows, where Reps. Pramila Jayapal and Jamaal Bowman highlighted the complicity of the Israeli military on the atrocities in Gaza; they also take a look at Israeli historian Avi Shlaim debunking some of the rhetoric surrounding the so-called "divisiveness" of the phrase "from the river to the sea." They also take a look at Sen. Cory Booker trying desperately to stop a pro-ceasefire chant from growing at one of his rallies, to the tune of "We Are Family" by Sister Sledge. They then turn to Norm Finkelstein schooling some moron on Russia Today who accuses him of hating Jews (Finkelstein is the son of Holocaust survivors), then get to the most important thing on today's schedule: The premiere of the trailer for "Jingle Smells" the new Sean Hannity-produced Christmas movie starring former SNL luminaries Jim Breuer and Victoria Jackson. Plus, your calls & IM's!

Check out Robert's book here: https://www.acappellabooks.com/pages/books/305700/robert-p-jones/the-hidden-roots-of-white-supremacy-and-the-path-to-a-shared-american-future

Become a member at JoinTheMajorityReport.com: https://fans.fm/majority/join

Subscribe to the ESVN YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/esvnshow

Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here: https://am-quickie.ghost.io/

Join the Majority Report Discord! http://majoritydiscord.com/

Get all your MR merch at our store: https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/

Get the free Majority Report App!: http://majority.fm/app

Check out today’s sponsors:

Nutrafol: Take the first step to visibly thicker, healthier hair. For a limited time, Nutrafol is offering our listeners ten dollars off your first month’s subscription and free shipping when you go to https://Nutrafol.com/men and enter the promo code TMR. 

Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter:

@SamSeder

@EmmaVigeland

@MattBinder

@MattLech

@BF1nn

@BradKAlsop

Check out Matt’s show, Left Reckoning, on Youtube, and subscribe on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/leftreckoning

Subscribe to Brandon’s show The Discourse on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/ExpandTheDiscourse

Subscribe to Discourse Blog, a newsletter and website for progressive essays and related fun partly run by AM Quickie writer Jack Crosbie. https://discourseblog.com/

Check out Matt Binder’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/mattbinder

Check out Ava Raiza's music here! https://avaraiza.bandcamp.com/

The Majority Report with Sam Seder - https://majorityreportradio.com/