American writer Shaun King calls statues of Jesus a tool of white supremacy; urges to be torn down
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The co-founder of Real Justice PAC is known to promote his views and social justice by using social media and has spoken for the 'Black Lives Matter' movement.
American writer and civil rights activist Shaun King has said that all images of Jesus are depicted as a "white European" and urged people that it should be torn down as it is a form of "white supremacy".
The co-founder of Real Justice PAC is known to promote his views and social justice by using social media and has spoken for the 'Black Lives Matter' movement.
King used the social media platform of Twitter to make his remarks against statues of Jesus. Statues and historical monuments have been a target and are being brought down or vandalized during the Black Lives Matter protests that were sparked after George Floyd's death while in Police custody in Minneapolis.
He took to Twitter and wrote: “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 Demark. Tear them down.”
Yes, I think the statues of the white European they claim is Jesus should also come down.
— Shaun King (@shaunking) June 22, 2020
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.
In his next post, Shaun King went on to call "white Jesus is a lie" and a "tool of white supremacy" saying that white people used the religion to as a “tool of oppression. He added that white people would never have accepted a religion “from a Brown man.”
Yes.
— Shaun King (@shaunking) June 22, 2020
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.
He supported that all imagery including “murals and stained glass windows of white Jesus, and his European mother, and their white friends.”
Netizens had a mixed reaction, while some agreed with King's views, others pointed out that other communities have depicted Jesus that resembled the local community. For example, Ethiopia's Black Jesus and Asia Jesus in South East Asia.
There are a number of prominent ‘Black Christs’. This one’s in the Metropolitan Cathedral in Mexico City. pic.twitter.com/xwmdqQgpsT
— Dominic Stafford Uglow (@Sellypaws) June 22, 2020
There is a long beautiful history of people depicting Jesus looking familiar to their place and culture. Jesus is not about race, and saying to tear down depictions that occur in a European-dominant context is as racist as removing them from any culture. pic.twitter.com/C1wFSr1xXr
— MrSubsidiarity (@MrSubsidiarity) June 22, 2020