White Devils, Black Gods: Race, Masculinity, and Religious Codependency

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Interweaving academic theory, (auto)ethnography, and memoir-styled narrative, Christopher M. Driscoll explores what the white devil trope means for understanding and responding to tensions emerging from toxic white masculinity. The book provides a historical and philosophical account of the white devil as it appears in the stories and myths of various black religious and philosophical traditions, particularly as these traditions are expressed through the contemporary cultural expression of hip-hop. Driscoll argues that the trope of the white devil emerges from a self-hatred in many white men that is concealed (and revealed) through various defence mechanisms principally, anger and the book provides rich ground to discuss the relationship between perceptions of self (i.e. who we are), emotional regulation, and our behaviour towards others (i.e. how we act).

Reviews

This book is a gift for this time in history, an essential read for people who want to build communities to counter white racism and nurture expansive, generative interdependence. The analysis of harms done is rigorous and compelling, and the depiction of paths forward for genuine reparations and systemic justice are original, evocative, and catalytic. * Sharon D. Welch, Author of After the Protests Are Heard: Enacting Civic Engagement and Social Transformation (2019). *
As an incredibly rare work in its honesty, transparency, and depth, Christopher M. Driscoll's White Devils, Black Godsis an excellent contribution to the emerging nexus in scholarship on religio-racial identity, gender politics, and hip hop music and culture. * Juan M. Floyd-Thomas, Associate Professor of African American Religious History, Vanderbilt University, USA *

Author Bio

Christopher M. Driscoll is Associate Professor of Religion Studies at Lehigh University, USA. He is author of White Lies: Race & Uncertainty in the Twilight of American Religion (2015), co-author of Method as Identity: Manufacturing Distance in the Academic Study of Religion (2018), co-editor of Kendrick Lamar and the Making of Black Meaning (2020), and co-editor of Breaking Bread, Breaking Beats: Churches and Hip Hop A Guide to Key Issues (2014).