White or Woke Christian Nationalists? How Race Moderates the Link Between Christian Nationalism and Progressive Identities

Scholarship on "Christian nationalism" often frames it as antithetical to progressive politics. Yet recent studies find that historically disadvantaged racial minorities often espouse more progressive political views as Christian nationalism increases. Building on an understanding that American religion and politics are fundamentally racialized and drawing on nationally representative data from a nonprobability sample with a Christian nationalism scale incorporating ideology and self-identification, we examine how racial identity moderates the link between Christian nationalism and how much Americans identify with the terms "woke" and "progressive." Results reveal racial divergence. As Christian nationalism increases, White Americans are either no different or less likely to affirm progressive identities, while Black Americans become more likely to identify as "woke," and both Black and Hispanic Americans become more likely to identify as "progressive." Patterns are also consistent across partisan identity. Results further affirm how race moderates Christian nationalist views and demonstrate how endorsing progressive identities is differentially shaped by race and religion.