Shaun King Says "White Jesus" Is "White Supremacy" & People Lost It

In recent years, we've seen a rise in citizens calling for the removal of certain statues erected in honor of controversial historical figures. People including American presidents, members of the Confederacy, and explorers like Christopher Columbus have been targeted in such campaigns. On Monday (June 22), police and protesters collided when people gathered together at Lafayette Square outside of the White House to take down a statue of President Andrew Jackson, and it was recently announced that a statue of Theodore Roosevelt may be removed from the American Museum of Natural History. Controversial activist Shaun King is now calling for another figure to be taken down: Jesus Christ.

To be specific, Shaun King wants European depictions of Jesus to be taken down because, he claims, keeping them up is a form of White supremacy. "If your religion requires Jesus to be a blonde haired blue eyed Jesus, then your religion is not Christianity, but white supremacy," King tweeted. "Christian whiteness, not white Christianity, has been the primary religion of this country for hundreds of years."

"Yes, I think the statues of the white European they claim is Jesus should also come down. They are a form of white supremacy," Shaun King wrote in another tweet. "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."

The statements have caused a heavy wave of backlash, especially from conservatives who accused King of attempting to erase Christianity. He has denied that his statements support anything of the like, and regardless of the criticisms, he stands by his words. This has caused Shaun King to trend on Twitter on-and-off for the better part of Monday (June 22), so check out his tweets and a few responses below.