A Protocol for an Inclusive Future
Introduction
In 2025, our communities face growing threats from an overlapping trio of harmful worldviews, an unholy trinity: Christian Nationalism, Toxic Masculinity, and White Supremacy.
Christian Nationalism seeks to fuse religious identity with political power, excluding those who don’t conform to its narrow definition of morality. Toxic Masculinity enforces rigid and harmful gender roles, silencing emotions, and perpetuating violence as a sign of strength. White Supremacy works to maintain systemic inequality, denying justice and opportunity to communities of color while upholding false hierarchies of human worth. Together, these ideologies create a culture of division, oppression, and fear.
There is a better path, there are things we can do — a protocol for an inclusive future that embraces the opposites of these destructive ideologies.
Instead of Christian Nationalism, we can foster Inclusive Communities, where people of all faiths, beliefs, and identities can thrive and contribute equally. In place of Toxic Masculinity, we champion Gender Liberation and Equality, creating a world where people are free to express themselves beyond outdated gender norms. Lastly, rather than White Supremacy, we must embrace Intersectionality, recognizing the interconnected nature of race, class, gender, and sexuality in shaping experiences of oppression and privilege.
Together, these three principles offer a roadmap to a future where everyone can belong, thrive, and be heard.
We’ll be expanding these resources in 2025. For now, please see the resource library below.
Resource Library
Toxic Masculinity
Talk Toxic: A Guide to Toxic Masculinity for Boys and Men, Cristina Cabrera-Ayers (they/them), One Woman Project, October 2021
Overview: An overview of sources, manifestations, and results of toxic masculinity, and a guide for dismantling and challenging expressions and incidents of toxic masculinity.
How gay men are endorsing toxic masculinity without knowing!, Hugo Mega, April 2022
Overview: How gay men are participating in and benefiting from toxic masculinity, sometimes without even knowing they are.
Gay Therapy: Toxic Masculinity, Matthew J. Dempsey, 4:36 VIDEO, October 2022
Overview: Men’s value in our society has historically been reduced to the ability to provide and protect, which generally has been associated with pragmatism and aggression. Defining limited ways men are supposed to be and feel and then shaming any man that falls out of line is toxic masculinity and not only destroys self-esteem but also puts everyone else in danger. Feelings of inadequacy without the tools and license to process them is the birthplace of disconnect and rage. And especially for us 🏳️🌈queer men🏳️⚧️, we’ve learned early and often that intimacy with another man is the ultimate assault on our masculinity and our ability to be valuable and lovable enough. When we suppress the full expression of any group of people, everyone suffers when we could otherwise shine.
The Harmful Effects of Gender Roles Through the Development of Toxic Masculinity (Machismo), Angie Marie Luna, February 2021
Link:
Overview: Perspectives on toxic masculinity through the experiences of a woman raised in a religious, Mexican-American Catholic household in Chicago.
Black Men, Toxic Masculinity and Its Casualties, Brianna Patt, Dallas Weekly, January 2024
Overview: The expectations for Black men can carry a hefty weight, having a detrimental effect on not just them, but those they love. What is the measure of this pressure, and how can we lessen the burden for us all?
How Toxic Masculinity Is Ruining Your Workplace Culture, Holly Althof, SHRM, March 2021
Overview: The effects of toxic masculinity are harmful to both women and men. However, women, racial and ethnic minority groups, and those who identify as LGBTQ bear the brunt of the microaggressions and overly dominant behaviors associated with toxic masculinity, workplace psychologists say. Left unchecked, toxic masculinity will ruin an organization's culture. This article is a rather comprehensive overview of toxic masculinity in the workplace, and also provides suggestions for employees and leaders, alike.
Why Is “Boys Will Be Boys” Still Accepted Wisdom in Our Schools?, Kelly Treleaven, We Are Teachers, November 2022
Overview: Explores what it is and isn’t, how it shows up in classrooms and with parents, and how to counteract toxic masculinity in the classroom.
Challenging Toxic Masculinity in Educational Settings, Educating for Equality
Overview: Provides examples of how to address toxic masculinity across an entire school district. Interesting to note there are more articles on this topic from the UK than in the US. While this is from the UK, the examples and strategies are wholly transferable to US public school districts.
How Americans See Men and Masculinity, Juliana Menasce Horowitz and Kim Parker, Pew Research Center, October 2024
Overview: The status of men in American society has been at the center of recent national political conversations. Some people have spoken out about what they perceive to be attacks on traditional manhood, while others have warned about what they see as “toxic masculinity.” More broadly, many have expressed concern about how men are doing socially and economically. This survey covers traits people think are valued too much or too little in men these days; how acceptable they think certain behaviors are in men; and how they think men have fared relative to women in various aspects of life. Results from a survey conducted in September 2024 providing key findings.
The Darker Side of Rural Masculinity: Second and Third Order Impacts of Low Help-Seeking Behavior Following the Trauma of Victimisation, International Journal of Rural Criminology, Kreseda Smith, Richard Byrne, December 2024
Overview: It is recognised by researchers globally that crime in the rural space is lower than the urban equivalent. This is not always the lived experience of rural communities, despite the reporting of crime being low. The issue of rural masculinity potentially plays a key role in the likelihood of rural victims reporting a crime to the police. However, it is argued that the same factor influences the failure of rural victims to seek help for the trauma of victimisation, leading to second and third impacts associated with becoming a victim of rural crime. This exploration of the issue of rural masculinity delves into the wider impact it has on crime experiences, crime reporting, and help-seeking post-victimisation.
White Supremacy
Overview: “First, I must confess that over the last few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizens Councillor or the Ku Klux Klanner but the white moderate who is more devoted to order than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says, "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can't agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically feels that he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by the myth of time; and who constantly advises the Negro to wait until a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.”
Overview: “The Rainbow Coalition was an anti-racist, working-class multicultural movement founded April 4, 1969, in Chicago, Illinois by Fred Hampton of the Black Panther Party, along with William "Preacherman" Fesperman of the Young Patriots Organization and José Cha Cha Jiménez, founder of the Young Lords. It was the first of several 20th-century black-led organizations to use the "rainbow coalition" concept.”
Overview: This is the last book Martin Luther King, Jr. penned before his assassination in 1968. It's a series of essays in which Dr. King addresses the status of the Civil Rights movement, its progress, what has held it back and what he believes it will take to move it forward.
The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Overview: Author and Journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates explores the process of narrative making and how these constructed narratives direct our thoughts, politics, and actions.
The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church's Complicity in Racism by Jemar Tisby
Overview: Historian Jemar Tisby provides a robust, and accessible, retelling of how people of faith in America worked against racial justice. His point of view is not hostile to faith, as he himself identifies as a christian, but he also does not pull his punches.
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Christian Nationalism
The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism, Author: Katherine Stewart, Publication Date: March 3, 2020
Overview: A deep dive into how Christian nationalism influences American politics, focusing on the movement's leaders, funding, and strategies.
Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States, Authors: Andrew L. Whitehead and Samuel L. Perry, Publication Date: February 3, 2020
A sociological analysis of Christian nationalism, explaining its impact on American identity, politics, and policy.
Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation, Author: Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Publication Date: June 23, 2020
Overview: Explores how conservative evangelical culture has shaped Christian nationalism through ideas of masculinity, power, and politics.
White Evangelical Racism: The Politics of Morality in America, Author: Anthea Butler, Publication Date: 2021
Overview: “Butler reveals how evangelical racism, propelled by the benefits of whiteness, has since the nation's founding played a provocative role in severely fracturing the electorate. During the buildup to the Civil War, white evangelicals used scripture to defend slavery and nurture the Confederacy. During Reconstruction, they used it to deny the vote to newly emancipated blacks. In the twentieth century, they sided with segregationists in avidly opposing movements for racial equality and civil rights. Most recently, evangelicals supported the Tea Party, a Muslim ban, and border policies allowing family separation. White evangelicals today, cloaked in a vision of Christian patriarchy and nationhood, form a staunch voting bloc in support of white leadership. Evangelicalism's racial history festers, splits America, and needs a reckoning now.”
Christian Nationalism and the January 6 2021 Insurrection, Authors: Various, Publication Date: 2022
Overview: “This report’s focus on the events leading up to and on January 6 does not suggest that this is the sole example or manifestation of Christian nationalism in the United States today. Concentrating solely on the most violent or obvious examples of Christian nationalism could distract us from addressing the more mundane and yet insidious forms of the ideology that often go unnoticed. The
contributors and sponsors of this report are committed to studying and combatting Christian nationalism in its many forms. The scale and severity of the January 6 attack warrant a dedicated report of this kind.”
Black Writers on Race and the Rise of White Christian Nationalism, Authors: Sabrina E. Dent, Obery Hendricks, Candace Bond-Theriault Publication Date: 2023
“What exactly is white Christian nationalism? Is it actually on the rise? How does white Christian nationalism impact people of faith who are also people of color? How do people of color define religious freedom? This Black History Month, explore these questions and more in a one-hour virtual kitchen table-style conversation with two leading experts on race, religion, and American politics.”
The Dangers of Christian Nationalism (Interview with Katherine Stewart), Platform: PBS NewsHour, Release Date: March 6, 2020
Overview: A short but informative discussion on how Christian nationalism operates in American politics.
Straight White American Jesus, Podcast by Bradley Onishi and Daniel Miller, Ongoing Podcast
Overview: A podcast critically examining Christian nationalism, evangelicalism, and their intersection with American politics.
The Rise of the Latino Far Right and What it Means for America, Author: Paola Ramos, Publication Date: October 2024
Overview: “From underdog GOP candidates, January 6th insurrectionists, evangelical pastors and culture war crusaders, Ramos met people aiming to influence this rightward shift. Ramos explores how tribalism, traditionalism, and political trauma within the Latino community has been weaponized to radicalize and convert voters who, like many of their white counterparts, are fearful of losing their place in American society.”
Christian Nationalism and Political Violence: Victimhood, Racial Identity, Conspiracy Theories, and Support for the Capitol Attacks, Authors: Miles T. Armaly, David T. Buckley, and Adam M. Enders, Publication Date: December 2021
Overview: This study examines how Christian nationalism, when combined with white identity, perceived victimhood, and support for conspiracy theories, correlates with support for political violence, particularly the January 6th Capitol attacks.
White Christian Nationalism, Biblical Proof Texting, and Literacy Instruction, Authors: Mary Juzwik, Rebecca Witte, Kevin Burke, Esther Prins, Publication Date: August 2023
Overview: “If the White Christian nationalist movement has significantly galvanized parent, community, and larger-scale political groups whose guiding ethos challenges teacher professional roles in shaping literacy curriculum and instruction, then how can literacy teachers and teacher educators better understand this movement, its interpretive orientation to biblical proof texting, and implications for literacy scholarship and education? We focus on the locality of Ottawa County and surrounding areas of western Michigan, where Reformed [Calvinist] Christianity became the dominant ethnoreligious group after Dutch immigrants colonized the area in the 1800s. Grounded in this context, the essay describes the Christian nationalist movement, distinguishing it from the American evangelical movement and exploring the significance of biblical proof texting to it.”
Christian Nationalism and Its Growing Legal Footprint, Author: Zachary Brown, Publication: Juris Mentem Law Review of American University, Publication Date: March 2024
Overview: “Christian nationalism has seen a growing number of adherents in recent years. A poll found that 30% of Americans were “adherents or sympathizers” of Christian nationalism. Conservative politicians have eagerly adjusted to this new reality. Some have gone so far as to call the separation of church and state a “myth,” claiming that the Framers never intended to form a secular state and that the modern interpretation of the First Amendment defies America’s founding principles. The influence of Christian nationalism can be seen through different prisms. Some have connected Christian nationalism to growing rates of political violence, especially in the aftermath of Jan 6. Others have raised concerns over Christian nationalist sentiment in American elections, particularly regarding the more fanatic elements of former President Trump’s bid for a second, non-consecutive term in office. Perhaps the most alarming component of Christian nationalism’s rise has been the enactment of long-held beliefs of the Christian right into state law, with fetal personhood laws being the most prominent and extreme example. The increasing significance of the Christian right within the U.S. legal system has drastic repercussions for multiculturalism, religious freedom, and American democracy.”