Shaun King Calls on Protesters to Tear Down ‘Racist’ Statues of White Jesus
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Activist Shaun King faced condemnation on Monday after calling for statues of Jesus Christ to be torn down next amid nationwide protests.
“Yes, I think the statues of the white European they claim is Jesus should also come down.They are a form of white supremacy. Always have been,” King tweeted. “In the Bible, when the family of Jesus wanted to hide, and blend in, guess where they went? EGYPT! Not Denmark. Tear them down.”
Yes, I think the statues of the white European they claim is Jesus should also come down.
They are a form of white supremacy.
Always have been.
In the Bible, when the family of Jesus wanted to hide, and blend in, guess where they went?
EGYPT!
Not Denmark.
Tear them down.
— Shaun King (@shaunking) June 22, 2020
In another post, King added, “Yes. All murals and stained glass windows of white Jesus, and his European mother, and their white friends should also come down. They are a gross form white supremacy. Created as tools of oppression. Racist propaganda. They should all come down.”
Yes.
All murals and stained glass windows of white Jesus, and his European mother, and their white friends should also come down.
They are a gross form white supremacy.
Created as tools of oppression.
Racist propaganda.They should all come down.
— Shaun King (@shaunking) June 22, 2020
Journalists, commentators, and politicians rejected King’s call.
“Can’t get on board with this, sorry,” responded New York Times opinion writer Elizabeth Bruenig. “Every Christian culture has depicted Jesus, Mary and the apostles as looking like them — thus gorgeous icons from Ethiopia differing from Coptic icons created in Northern Africa. This is one of the *good* things about the Church.”
can’t get on board with this, sorry. Every Christian culture has depicted Jesus, Mary and the apostles as looking like them — thus gorgeous icons from Ethiopia differing from Coptic icons created in Northern Africa. This is one of the *good* things about the Church. https://t.co/BKflck1ya0
— Elizabeth Bruenig (@ebruenig) June 22, 2020
“It started with people of all faiths being denied the right to gather in mosques, synagogues, church etc then churches were burned, now Jesus is a ‘white supremacist,'” commented Fox Nation host Lara Logan.
It started with people of all faiths being denied the right to gather in mosques, synagogues, church etc then churches were burned, now Jesus is a “white supremacist”. A Muslim friend just said to me: “For the first time in my life I cannot go to the mosque every day to pray”. https://t.co/ZgBLzYapUk
— Lara Logan (@laralogan) June 23, 2020
And here we go… https://t.co/SxuGGrWjUE
— Joe Concha (@JoeConchaTV) June 22, 2020
No they shouldn’t and no they aren’t. https://t.co/CAzSuoVQs5
— Lee Zeldin (@RepLeeZeldin) June 23, 2020
This gentleman has 1.1 million followers.
He’d like to see all European Christian imagery destroyed as part of ‘systemic racism’.
Just curious: wasn’t it a federal hate crime to incite mob destruction of churches affiliated with a particular religion? https://t.co/soZfWoMBwv
— Geoffrey Miller (@primalpoly) June 22, 2020
And that, children, is when the movement jumped the shark. https://t.co/wWEltdt6xF
— David Martosko (@dmartosko) June 23, 2020
People need more Jesus in this world, not less. https://t.co/Ux3yA2p2AY
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) June 22, 2020
Can’t say I expected *Jesus* to be next… https://t.co/Jh9G982vX7
— Shadi Hamid (@shadihamid) June 22, 2020
I know we live in a post-parody world.
But pls tell me this is a parody … https://t.co/NYTBX4S14o— Charlie Sykes (@SykesCharlie) June 22, 2020
This won’t end well. https://t.co/LScryvkaY1
— Iain Martin (@iainmartin1) June 22, 2020
This is nonsense and you are everything that is wrong with the world right now. https://t.co/9KiMHKHNOH
— Joe Gruters (@JoeGruters) June 22, 2020
I’m a secular Jew, and am deeply offended by this inflammatory rhetoric, which is cleary designed to insight and provoke a violent defense of religious iconography. https://t.co/tlKtU4LlJx
— Matthew Kolken (@mkolken) June 22, 2020
Christians of various ethnicities have been creating religious art that portrays biblical figures in their own ethnicity for hundreds and hundreds of years. https://t.co/w3rKIJTOst
— Andrew Egger (@EggerDC) June 22, 2020
This seems like a great way to absolutely destroy any goodwill a movement has with the wider public. https://t.co/ZikQk0xdrk
— James O’Malley (@Psythor) June 23, 2020
Cannabis icon Tommy Chong, however, backed King’s posts, tweeting, “Agreed! Jesus was not a white man! He was a brown man who was murdered for being against the racist rulers of that time.”
Agreed! Jesus was not a white man! He was a brown man who was murdered for being against the racist rulers of that time. https://t.co/iBkVRyIPc9
— Tommy Chong (@tommychong) June 23, 2020
Once a prominent Black Lives Matter activist, King has become a controversial figure on both the left and right.
