[dropcap]W[/dropcap]hile the religious fears concerning President Obama have more often centered around claims that he is a secret Muslim or a communist atheist, his initial campaign for the presidency revealed that even his Christianity could cause outrage. In March of 2008, the media and the country burst into a frenzy concerning comments from several of his pastor Jeremiah Wright’s sermons. One sermon in particular said of America and its government:
And the United States of America government, when it came to treating her citizens of Indian descent fairly, she failed. She put them on reservations. When it came to treating her citizens of Japanese descent fairly, she failed. She put them in internment prison camps. When it came to treating her citizens of African descent fairly, America failed. She put them in chains, the government put them on slave quarters, put them on auction blocks, put them in cotton field, put them in inferior schools, put them in substandard housing, put them in scientific experiments, put them in the lowest paying jobs, put them outside the equal protection of the law, kept them out of their racist bastions of higher education and locked them into positions of hopelessness and helplessness. The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing “God Bless America”. No, no, no, not God Bless America. God damn America — that’s in the Bible — for killing innocent people. God damn America, for treating our citizens as less than human. God damn America, as long as she tries to act like she is God, and she is supreme. The United States government has failed the vast majority of her citizens of African descent.
The Black Prophetic Tradition
[dropcap]A[/dropcap]s someone raised Mormon, I was surprised to hear these comments, and based on the media attention, many others were not just surprised but profoundly outraged. And yet, over time, I have come to realize that these comments, this fiery style, this pointed social critique…these are crucial elements of “the black church” — and more particularly, this notion of the black prophetic tradition in America. These days, when we think of politically polarizing black politicians, it’s not difficult to find men of the cloth. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, both Baptist ministers, are probably some of the first who come to mind, but in his scathing critique of Cornel West, Michael Eric Dyson identifies West as striving in his writing for — yet failing to attain and perhaps even to understand — status as the latest in the Black prophetic tradition. (And, for whatever it’s worth, while Dyson humbly concedes that he is also not fit for as representing one in that tradition, he discusses his own ordination as a minister.)
Indeed, even as Pew and other researchers have found that many religions are experiencing declining attendance, black churches remain strong.
Indeed, one relatively new star in the black public intellectual tradition, Ta-Nehisi Coates, is often identified and assessed based on his rejection of the black church and even theism in general — reviewers of his latest book can’t help but assess it against the religiosity that is so often attendant to black social advocacy.
…and indeed, black social advocacy goes back further with religious figures…whether it be the Muslim Malcolm X or the Christian Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Most Segregated Hour
[dropcap]R[/dropcap]eligion and race therefore have a complex relationship in America, and not just for black Americans. Many predominantly white church traditions have had to grapple with abhorrent statements and teachings in their past regarding race, as Mormons too are well aware.
Is it any surprise, then, that many including Dr. King, would say that Sunday morning is the most segregated hour in America?
In reflecting upon my upbringing within Mormonism, I have written that — at least somewhat unconsciously — Mormonism has given me a glimpse of becoming white and delightsome (however elusive.) In addition to my education and my socioeconomic status, I can attribute a lot about my professional development and success, my personality, my skill sets, to Mormonism. I hear Reverend Wright’s words as another language — although it is a language that, in recent months, I have become more and more familiar due to continued events in the news; my native tongue (even if I don’t believe or practice) is still Mormon. When people call me oreo — black on the outside, white on the inside — that to me is tied to Mormonism.
So, I was interested to find linked by a friend on Facebook an article discussing research from Baylor University about the impact on views of race within mixed race religious communities. From the article:
…“We find little evidence that multiracial congregations promote progressive racial views among attendees of any race or ethnicity,” the researchers wrote. Views of minorities in multiracial congregations contrast to those generally held by religiously affiliated blacks and Hispanics.
“Whose interests are multiracial congregations serving?” asked researcher Kevin Dougherty, Ph.D., associate professor of sociology in Baylor’s College of Arts & Sciences. “We want to believe that they promote a shared, integrated identity for all. But the truth may be that many are advancing a form of Anglo-conformity instead.”
The study’s focus was explanations for socioeconomic differences between blacks and whites in the United States. Previous research shows that blacks and Hispanics point to discrimination as a cause of black disadvantage, while whites often emphasize personal motivation as a cause, researchers said. But inside multiracial congregations, explanations for inequality become more similar across groups, coming to resemble the views of the whites.
Although more of America’s faith communities are becoming racially and ethnically mixed, the dominant white racial frames may go unchallenged. That potentially influences minority attendees to embrace those attitudes, or multiracial congregations may attract minorities more likely to accept the attitudes in the first place.
“The ongoing racial desegregation taking place in America’s congregations has many costs,” said lead author Ryon Cobb, Ph.D., National Institute on Aging postdoctoral fellow at USC Davis School of Gerontology. “For blacks and Hispanics, affiliation with racially diverse congregations costs them a perspective on racial inequality that is distinct from their white counterparts within and outside their racially diverse congregation.”
I appreciated that the article pointed out that the relationship of the correlation is not fully known. It could be that ethnically mixed faith communities influence minority attendees to embrace white-majority racial attitudes…or it could be that racial minorities already predisposed to accepting those racial attitudes self-select for those communities. In my case, I cannot tell what may or may not have been the case for my convert parents, but as someone raised in the church, I can’t say that I had much of a say in my faith community (although I guess by not attending anymore, that is my choice there?)
What do you think about this research? What do you think about the style and content from the preachers of black churches?
Wheat & Tares 
George,
You give a lot to think about here, particularly as a white guy, growing up in largely segregated churches and schools. Certainly the LDS church of my upbringing was perfectly content to uphold the institutionalized ill treatment of black Americans, and I grew up with bias flowing within me.
That anti-black bias does not easily disappear. Even Malcolm Gladwell, who is half Jamacan, found himself with a subtle anti black bias.
So to realize the extent to which my upbringing instills subtle hatred for my black brothers and sisters, I think business as usual, even in a progressive, multiracial congregation, is unacceptable.
We must do more.
But there is another side of this. The black church, as well, needs to welcome dialog. I engage, I try, but when I am the proxy target of black angst, having anger vented at me personally for the sins of my ancestors, it is hard to feel welcome in the cause of seeking justice.
In this vein, looking at reverend Wright’s comments in context, I am neither shocked not offended at his statement. His point is very clear, and entirely accurate: our colonizing, save-holding, misogynous European ancestors justified whits male privilege in the name of God, and felt that God blessed their manifest destiny. Wright correctly points out the utter falsehood of such thinking–he isn’t wrong. When Dr King proclaimed that America’s promissory note to people of color had come back stamped “insufficient funds”, then we have a long way to go.
The “war on drugs” may as well be called, “the incarcerate black men program.” Wright is right…so to speak, and as ironic as it might be for this privileged white dude to say it, I would have to say AMEN to wright’s fiery sermon–we need these words proclaimed from every housetop.
Wayfarer,
I think that you raise good points, and I am sympathetic to the way that people can be in the “cross-fire” so to speak. But I think these are definitely dynamics that occur between any marginalized group and their allies. Like, plenty of men are alienated (whether intentionally or not) by some feminists they find to be too radical or mean; plenty of straight people are alienated by LGBT activists they find to be too flamboyant or lewd, and of course, the same is and always has been true on racial issues. I don’t necessarily think the answer is that marginalized populations should listen to privileged populations on tone arguments about how they could present their message more nicely or whatever.
It gets a lot into discussions of privilege, of ongoing participation in racialist, patriarchal, or heteronormative systems. So, it’s not necessarily just venting for sins of ancestors…there’s an important point that even well-meaning white/straight/socioeconomically well off/men/(whatever the privilege may be) benefit TODAY, in 2015, from their privilege, and as a result are complicit TODAY, in 2015, in supremacy. Even with no hatred at all — complicity can be a bureaucratic, unfeeling thing rather than an active matter of animus.
In this case, it’s good to recognize that the war on drugs has a racialized component. But if you realize that that also means that you benefit from this racism — though you never wanted to, though you never asked too — then maybe that brings some understanding/compassion for why you may become the proxy target of angst?
So, the short answer generally is: typically, the feelings of allies (or even not-so-allies) will not be prioritized over the need of the marginalized group to vent. Yes, plenty of people will be uncomfortable. yes, plenty of people will decide that being an ally will not be for them. But that’s the way the cookie crumbles.
As A descendent of mostly mid 1800’s Mormon immigrants, it’s hard for me personally to accept for most of the wrongs committed to black African Americans. It seems like many policies designed to help minorities in the short term with poverty cause more long term problems with family break down, long term poverty and crime.
As far as the Anglo-conformity in mixed race congregations, when cultures are so different, how can you really expect them to maintain the integrity of both cultures? So what will happen naturally will be that whichever is the majority culture will create the framework, and the minority cultures that chose to involve themselves will obviously accept that framework. As more of them come, that initial cultural dominance will remain.
That also happened in the opposite direction with jazz and hip hop, where the harmonic and rhythmic worlds created by black culture were adopted by white culture, and any white singer working in that genera will adopt the black inflections of the initial cultural dominance.
I thought Rev. Wright’s sermon was quite accurate. Collectively, we are still suffering from the sins of the fathers and will be for a long time. I do get a little impatient with some of the knee-jerk accusations of racism coming from some blacks and some bleeding heart liberal whites. But I do think there is a collective responsibility we share to try and work through the crap our ancestors bequeathed us rather than passing the buck onto people long dead. If sins were never paid for, then the blood still cries from the ground. I somewhat disagree with the Article of Faith that says “man is punished for their own sins, not Adam’s transgression.” Rather, it is common knowledge that people pay for the sins of others all the time. If I enjoy the fruits of a beautiful world full of opportunity, which was created by my ancestors, shouldn’t I also face some of their debts as well?
re 4,
Nate,
One thing I will re-emphasize is that the article with the study doesn’t say either way what the direction of the correlation is…so it’s too soon to say whether this represents a shift in minority viewpoint or whether it represents minorities who already have those views self-selecting for those churches.
I will say though that the example of jazz, hip hop, etc., kinda undercuts your hypothesis. You say that one way for cultural exchange is natural, and yet you can readily come up with counterexamples (and, I would argue, these counterexamples aren’t exceptional.)
I think it’s because religion is tribalized by it’s roots (and most people seem to like it that way).
It sounds like the article is complaining that minorities attending mixed-race congregations aren’t adequately indoctrinated in the outrage and victimization they should feel as non-white people in America.
If whites are less likely to be outraged at social injustice than is progressive, it’s probably because they don’t experience it themselves all that much. Perhaps non-whites attending multi-racial congregations feel more comfortable in mixed-race society, and therefore sense less discrimination. Why should a non-white who doesn’t personally feel constantly victimized or discriminated against be any more obligated to resist social injustice than a white? The implication is that they’ve gone over to the enemy or been brainwashed by them.
Martin,
FWIW, the article isn’t “complaining” about anything. It’s just presenting research data.
You asked, “What do you think about the style and content from the preachers of black churches?”
For me it’s an impossible question. Pitting Reverend Wright and few other rare statements as an example of preachers from black churches, probably isn’t fair to the discussion. I haven’t had much experience with black preachers or churches, but I don’t get the feeling that Reverend Wright exemplifies all preachers from black churches, just like various LDS leaders don’t exemplify all of the LDS leaders.
There are just too many other factors to consider in my opinion.
That’s a good point, Cat.
But would it make you feel better thinking that Reverend Wright is exceptional?
Interesting. Is there better integration in Britain? I don’t know. The archbishop of York is African, from Uganda. I don’t think there is so stark a separation as there is sometimes described as being in the US.
Our stake primary president told us last time she spoke in our ward that she was raised in the Pentecostal tradition. She encourages a lively and active music time in primary (the music leader and myself as pianist are more than happy to comply, we both agree it needs to be fun). I loved the style of her sacrament meeting talk too. It was bold, direct and authoritative.
“FWIW, the article isn’t “complaining” about anything. It’s just presenting research data.”
Hmm… I think I’ll call BS on this. It’s not presenting data. The excerpt is from an article discussing the conclusions one should draw from the data. It strikes me as being worthy of a tobacco company from the 70s as they were researching the effects of cigarettes.
“Whose interests are multi-racial congregations serving?” Excellent question. Something’s wrong with us if we’re not suspicious of people of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds coming together voluntarily and sharing common cause and beliefs. Those people don’t seem to feel as discriminated against. They have a different experience from those attending entirely non-white congregations, don’t hold adequately progressive views, and tend not to emphasize discrimination as the source of black disadvantage. They abandon their race, destroying racial solidarity, and make friendly with the very race that continually victimizes the people they ought to be identifying with. Is this a GOOD thing?
Enough sarcasm. I just can’t abide “progressives” who decry “separate but equal” and then insist on maintaining the only way to be equal AND authentic is to remain separate. It seems their motto is “together, but separate, and in each others’ faces”.
Take a few of these progressives, add a large quantity of bigots, and we’re as likely to make peace as are the Zionists and jihadists.
Andrew, I came back to read this again because I’m in the middle of listening to Gina Colvin’s ATF podcast with Janan Russel and Fatimah Salleh on “The intersection of womanism, black liberation theology, and Mormonism.” http://athoughtfulfaith.org/mormonism-liberation-theology-and-womanism-a-conversation-with-fatimah-salleh-and-janan-graham/
One of the most interesting parts so far is that Mormon theology doesn’t have room for social justice, it’s only justice is “punishing someone for a bad thing.” I think we need to understand what black liberation theology is before we can figure out why / why not and how the passages of social justice in the scriptures trickle into our churches.
I saw a political cartoon awhile back that explained the point succinctly. A white man was looking one way thinking, “Look how far we’ve come.” A black man was looking the other way thinking, “Look how far we still have to go.” In a way I think the black preacher as activist has a similar role – reminding people that we are still falling short of the ideal and have work to do. In desegregated communities I think you tend to have more people reaping benefits from changes made, so there isn’t as much urgency in calling for more change.
Part of my view comes from observing the Mormon Feminist community over the last year. Many of the blog posts, testimonials and declarations are along the activist black preacher vein, “Look how horrible things are and how much we need to change.” Because of the publicity surrounding OW, you had a huge backlash of female members declaring, “We have already made significant progress already and those women are selfish and ungrateful for demanding more.” The righteous indignation I saw many members display at the “traitorous” behavior of Mormon Feminists was very similar to the gut reaction of many conservatives I knew who listened to that Jeremiah Wright clip years ago. They became completely blind to the other person’s argument because emotions took over.
Andrew S. – I don’t think I feel bad or good. I remember hearing the Reverend Wright piece back in 2008. I remember comparing it with Dr. King addresses and trying to weigh the two. Were they the same message with different styles, were they different messages? One appears hopeful to me, the other not.
As others have commented in the thread – is it a point of view issue or point of perspective issue. On neither one can I speak and I don’t find the article very helpful either. I also don’t see religious leaders alone creating the issue’s being brought forth – therefore I am not certain if any discussion is going to be simple.
For me this is an additional data table.
re 13,
Kristine,
as soon as I saw the link to that podcast episode posted, I knew that I needed to add it to my list of podcasts to listen to…but I haven’t gotten to it yet. But without even having listened to it, I think there is something to the idea that Mormonism doesn’t really have room — as it is constituted in 2015 — for social justice. I don’t think this has to be the case for every formulation of Mormonism (as noted, there are passages in the scriptures that can certainly be read in that way, but we don’t read them), but in 2015, we are too far from it.
re 14
Mary Ann,
Good thoughts…I think the comparisons to Mormon Feminists do illustrate the idea well..
re 15
Cat
Thanks for elaborating. I think one thing I have noticed about Martin Luther King is that beyond the messages and quotes that most often get attributed to him are some really doozies.