In the colonial period, Western Europe
for the most part exported its image of a
white Christ worldwide, and white Jesus
often shaped the way Christians
understood Jesus’ ministry and mission.
Some 19th-century Christians, eager to
justify the cruelties of slavery, went out of
their way to present Jesus as white. By
negating his true identity as a dark-
skinned, oppressed minority,
slaveholders were better able to justify
the master- slave hierarchy and forget
Jesus’ ministry to set the oppressed free
(Luke 4:18).
As a Jew, Jesus was an ethnic minority
in the Roman Empire. Jews were
marginalized by Romans, Greeks, and
other non-Jewish groups in many
imperial cities.
As an infant, Jesus was a target of ruler-
sanctioned infanticide, fled to Egypt as a
refugee, and faced Roman tax collectors’
exploitation. Throughout his life, he knew
the pain of being a member of an ethnic
group whose culture, religion, and
experiences were marginalized by those
in power.