'God's country' in crisis: critical race theory, ontological (in)security, and white Christian nationalism in the USA

The USA has witnessed an ongoing war against 'critical race theory' (CRT) alongside more virulent expressions of white Christian nationalism (WCN). Opponents maintain the narrative: CRT is an evil ploy by the Marxist Left posing a mortal threat to America. Building on ontological security scholarship and Lacanian theory on affect, discourse, and subjectivity, the article explores why this narrative has 'succeeded' and how WCN is related. It argues that WCN provides the ontologically insecure subject with an internal narrative-of-self. CRT threatens this self-narrative while the external anti-CRT narrative supports it. To the extent that it has influenced policy and transformed common language, the latter has 'succeeded' through its use of 'affective sticking points': valued signifiers, fantasies, and biographical narratives. An analysis of City Journal and Fox News articles published in 2020 and 2021 reveals that their use has crafted a fantasy portending the death of (white Christian) America.