Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America

by Michael O. Emerson

For these reasons, we claim that the dominant religious voices, or at least those that receive the most support, on issues of race relations are those most supportive of the status quo. Surveying the research, we discover important confirmation. Scholars find that the more clergy have to lose by speaking and acting prophetically on race issues, the less likely they are to do so.42 What is more, researchers find that the most popular religious groups in a local area—as measured by membership numbers—are the least likely to take social activism stands on racial issues, as they have more to lose in the community by challenging the status quo.43 This effect appears to hold regardless of whether the numerically dominant group is Protestant or Catholic.44 Thus, the numerically strongest voices, because structural forces push them to favor the racial status quo, serve to ghettoize the weaker voices calling for change.