One-third of black Americans want white Jesus idols and figurines removed from churches, finds survey
A new poll has revealed that at least a third of black Americans believe that "white Jesus" should be taken down from churches across the country.
Conducted by Rasmussen Reports, the poll surveyed 1,000 US adults from June 23 to June 24 and has reported a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
31 percent of black Americans were found to support the removal of Caucasian depictions of Jesus from churches, according to the poll. Meanwhile, 9 percent of white adults that participated in the poll said they support the removal, while 13 percent of other minority Americans agreed.
The Rasmussen poll came shortly after Black Lives Matter activist Shaun King tweeted that he agreed that murals and statues of white Jesus must be taken down.
"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 of white supremacy. Created as tools of oppression. Racist propaganda. They should all come down," King wrote in a tweet on June 22.
"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," he wrote in another tweet.
King, who claims he is biracial, has previously landed in controversy after CNN's Don Lemon reported that a family member told the outlet that King's parents are both white. The BLM activist received considerable backlash for his tweets.
"I agree with a lot of your stuff, but this, I do not. when Christianity began to spread around the world, artists created different depictions of Christ in order to resonate with their cultures more. You will find depictions of Asian Jesus in Asia, Black Jesus in Africa etc," one wrote.
"Hi my name is Shaun King - I’m lonely and need constant attention - LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME! PLEASE GOD, LOOK AT ME!" another quipped.
Coming back to the poll, it found that 82 percent of Republicans are opposed to the idea of removing white Jesus from churches. Meanwhile, 58 percent of Democrats and 69 percent of Americans not affiliated with either party agreed with the proposition.
The poll also found that 65 percent of Americans believed that Jesus Christ "was the son of God who came to earth to die for our sins". The percentage is a fall from 77 percent four years ago, per Rasmussen. In comparison, 22 percent disagreed with that description and 13 percent said they were unsure.
A different poll found there was a huge amount of support for the removal of Confederate statues across the country.
Conducted by Quinnipiac University, the poll found that 84 percent of Black Americans support the removal of Confederate statues from public areas across the country. Only 11 percent disagreed with the removal.
Considering overall figures, Quinnipiac found that 52 percent of all respondents supported the removal of these statues, while 44 percent disagreed.