Yes, I’ve written extensively about the foundations of the Moral Majority movement, which in the popular imagination is often conflated with evangelicalism itself — and not without reason. Jerry Falwell père did much to popularize the movement outside its traditional base.

I happened to be the son of an Evangelical pastor in Falwell’s orbit as the Moral Majority was taking shape, and as a nascent gay boy I was able to personally observe how the movement was centered more on racism and defense of institutional segregation than on the provocative anti-gay messaging that it would later become more known for.

Falwell eventually shifted focus in a pretty public split with Bob Jones et al, probably realizing that institutional segregation and racism were too toxic to sell.

He shifted gears hard into anti-gay and anti-abortion positions, needing demons, I suppose.

But so many people forget that the popular movement that continues to this day got its start in hardcore racism, and that racism still bubbles and seethes just under the public surface of many Evangelical congregations.