The Elusive Dream: The Power of Race in Interracial Churches

by Korie L. Edwards

While the voluntary nature of American religion frees people to attend racially integrated churches, it can also restrict churches' capacity to become racially diverse. Churches are most successful within the American context (where "success" is measured by the number of attendees) when they appeal to one group. This way they can concentrate their resources on the needs and desires of a specific demographic of people.

The second factor at play is that race is central to the structure of American life and the everyday lives of Americans. Whites and African Americans,9 in particular,

However, as I continued to visit interracial churches across the country, I noticed a pattern. Nearly all of the churches, regardless of their specific racial compositions, reminded me of the predominantly white churches I had visited. Generally, the churches were racially diverse at all levels. Whites and racial minorities were in the pews and in leadership. There were sometimes cultural practices and markers that represented racial minorities in these congregations, such as a gospel music selection, a display of flags from various countries around the world, or services translated into Spanish. Yet the diversity did not seem to affect the core culture and practices of the religious organizations. That is, the style of preaching, music, length of services, structure of services, dress codes, political and community activities, missionary interests, and theological emphases tended to be more consistent with those of the predominantly white churches I had observed. These churches exhibited many of the practices and beliefs common to white churches within their same religious affiliation, only with a few additional "ethnic" practices or markers. It was like adding rainbow sprinkles to a dish of ice cream. In the end, you still have a dish of ice cream, only with a little extra color and sweetness.

Finally, white transparency is "the tendency of whites not to think ... about norms, behaviors, experiences, or perspectives that are specific.,,39 It is a lack of racial consciousness.40 Whites are unaware that

After the Civil War, these formal and informal African-American religious organizations were the basis of the black church. It is reported that, by 18go, nearly 9o% of African-American Protestants belonged to black-controlled denominations.

determining which worship practices and styles are normative and representative of "who we are" in an interracial church is complicated because most Americans are accustomed to a racially homogeneous religion. People of different racial backgrounds have developed different ideas about what constitutes normative worship. And they often come to an interracial religious space with these firm sets of understandings about what worship should be like.

Taken together, these results tell us that interracial churches are not inclined to adopt the worship styles and practices that are commonly observed in African-American churches. They adopt those that are more common to white churches.

Congregants, she felt, treated the singing and music as entertainment, rather than as a participatory experience. These attendees' feelings were consistent with what other African Americans expressed about the worship services at Crosstown. This suggests that African-American and white attendees were working with two different sets of cultural norms and expectations for what worship ought to look like, in this case, what constituted upbeat worship. For whites, worship at Crosstown was upbeat, but for African Americans, that was far from true. Further, where whites particularly enjoyed the worship, most African Americans were not satisfied.

while these guidelines may have facilitated less-contentious interracial interaction, they also framed the discussions in such a way that limited African Americans' freedom to share their true feelings about race.

The congregation was fine with the idea of hiring an African American as long as it did not have any major impact on the church. But once his African-American identity became more evident (i.e., that he really was a "brother"),3 the idea of having an African-American pastor was less attractive. Furthermore, congregants did not hesitate to make their concerns about various practices, styles, or activities known to him and the elders. Although people had similar religious beliefs and appeared compatible culturally, their varying religio-cultural, socioeconomic, and life experiences made racial integration far more complicated than originally anticipated.

Whites appreciated him for what many African Americans did not, his intellectual religious orientation. He emphasized understanding spiritual things more than experiencing them. Yet, he was also caught between two worlds. He was not fully embraced by either African Americans or whites. Many African Americans respected and appreciated him, but it was difficult for some to accept that he was ineffective at introducing more African-American religious culture in the church. On the other hand, whites, at least according to Pastor Barnes, accepted him conditionally. As long as those parts of his identity that were particular to his black experience remained concealed, he was acceptable.

The mere possibility that his family's future interests might not be met led him to consider leaving the church. This contrasts with African-American attendees who, despite frustrations with the church, remained committed to Crosstown.

These ideas about racial identity reveal that African Americans and whites at Crosstown had very different levels of connection to their racial group, different conceptualizations of racial identity, and different ideas about what belonging to a particular racial group means. Close, regular, voluntary interracial interactions did not have an effect on the salience of racial identity for white attendees of Crosstown, nor did these interactions affect how they understood what racial identity meant for their own lives. They had a lot of difficulty presenting any kind of explanation for the meaning of whiteness. On the other hand, race was central to African-American attendees' senses of self. Blacks chose to draw upon race as a primary way of describing themselves without being prompted.

having racial minorities fill top positions in an organization does not preclude white hegemony. White dominance can be sustained even under these conditions. Pastor Barnes held the highest formal position of authority in the church and was, in many respects, good for Crosstown. Nevertheless, he was unable to garner sufficient support for his agenda. Floyd Winston, his preferred candidate for assistant pastor, did not receive strong support from the congregation. The race and religion seminar he initiated was relegated to the periphery and received virtually no support from white church leaders. If Pastor Barnes had accomplished his goals, African Americans' power and influence in the church may have increased.

I have argued that interracial churches work to the extent that they are, first, comfortable places for whites to attend. This is because whites are accustomed to their cultural practices and ideologies being the norm and to being structurally dominant in nearly every social institution. What this means is that, for interracial churches to stay interracial, racial minorities must be willing to sacrifice their preferences, or they must have already sufficiently acculturated into and accepted the dominant culture and whites' privileged status. Consequently, the chances for a widespread movement of interracial churches are slim.

If churches want to realize Dr. King's dream, they must first embrace a dream of racial justice and equality. Interracial churches must be places that all racial groups can call their own, where all racial groups have the power to influence the minor and major decisions of the church, where the culture and experiences of all racial groups are not just tolerated, but appreciated. This demands a radical approach and is certainly a high calling. Whites and racial minorities will have to resist white normativity and structural dominance and fully embrace the cultures, ideas, and perspectives of all racial groups. Otherwise, the dream will remain elusive.