Greg Garrett on White Lies and the Racial Myths That Protect Power

Have a comment? Send us a text! (We read all of them but can't reply). Email us: [email protected] do racial myths continue to shape American politics, religion, and culture long after people claim to reject racism? Greg Garrett, author of White Lies: Dismantling Ten Cultural Myths About Race, joins Faithful Politics to explain how false stories about race have been used to justify slavery, segregation, voting restrictions, exclusion, and white Christian nationalism. Garrett draws from film, theology, law, politics, sermons, advertising, James Baldwin, the Lost Cause, The Birth of a Nation, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture to show how myths do real public work. They tell people who belongs, who leads, and whose suffering can be ignored. The conversation does not treat myth as harmless folklore. It asks who these stories serve, why they are still persuasive, and what truth-telling requires from Christians, citizens, and communities that want to do better.Book MentionedWhite Lies: Dismantling Ten Cultural Myths About Race by Greg GarrettBookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/a/112456/9780197652183Relevant Links & ResourcesGreg Garrett - Baylor UniversityURL: https://english.artsandsciences.baylor.edu/person/dr-greg-garrettGuest BioGreg Garrett is the Carole McDaniel Hanks Professor of Literature and Culture at Baylor University and Canon Theologian for the American Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Paris. He has written more than thirty books, including White Lies: Dismantling Ten Cultural Myths About Race, The Gospel According to James Baldwin, and A Long, Long Way: Hollywood’s Unfinished Journey from Racism to Reconciliation. His work focuses on the intersection of faith, culture, literature, film, race, and public life, which makes him a strong guide for this conversation about the myths that sustain racial hierarchy in American religion and politics. Support Sarah Stankorb’s work and preorder Damned If She Does: Why Women Quit Church and What It Means for the Future of Religion, Releases September 15, 2026.  Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/a/112456/9798889837091Website: https://www.sarahstankorb.com/Support the showKeep the conversation going.Want to learn more about Faithful Politics, suggest a future guest, or connect with us directly?Visit our website:faithfulpoliticspodcast.comBrowse our bookstore, featuring books from many of our guests:faithfulpoliticspodcast.com/bookstoreSupport the show and help us keep these conversations going:patreon.com/cw/FaithfulPoliticsSubscribe for behind-the-scenes content, reflections, and updates:faithfulpolitics.substack.comContact the hosts:Josh Burtram, Faithful Host: [email protected] Wright, Political Host: [email protected] Faithful Politics:Instagram: faithful_politicsFacebook: FaithfulPoliticsPodcast