Our Kind of American: Christian Nationalism, Race, and Contingent Views of Cultural Membership

ABSTRACT American “Christian nationalism” is strongly associated with ethno-racial prejudice and xenophobia, particularly among White Americans. Yet research to date ignores the possibility of Christian nationalism operating similarly for ethno-racial minorities depending on the latter’s identification with the in-group vis-à-vis another out-group. Integrating insights from Christian nationalism research with social identity and group threat theories, we theorize racial identity differentially shapes the association between Christian nationalism and attitudes about ethno-racial exclusion or assimilation, contingent on which group is situated as the out-group. Data from the 2014 General Social Survey show Christian nationalism predicts White adults hold more exclusionary and assimilationist views. However, among Black adults (not Hispanic adults), Christian nationalism is associated with a rejection of domestic racial/ethnic minorities assimilating. And among Hispanic adults (not Black adults), Christian nationalism is associated with a rejection of exclusionary or assimilationist views when immigrants are under consideration. In contrast, when immigrants are the target, Christian nationalism operates identically for Black and White Americans. The same is true for Hispanic and White Americans when domestic minorities are the target. For ethno-racial minorities, Christian nationalism is thus linked with both inclusive/pluralistic views and exclusionary/assimilationist views, contingent on whether it connects them to the in-group or out-group.