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Race and religion in America

Posted by Editor • April 2nd, 2007 • Printer-friendly

The presidential run of Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., has energized discussion about the interplay between race and religion in the United States. The debate draws political scientists, historians, theologians, sociologists, political politicians and citizens.

It generates big, wide questions: Is religion used to justify racism? Does it help combat it? Or both? Does religion offer hope for erasing inequalities closely tied to race? How often does religious faith affect people’s view of other races and ethnicities? As the country becomes more ethnically diverse, how will that affect the various faith groups and their public voice on social policy?

At the same time, religion and race affect issues that play out in concrete ways in communities and through government policy on issues such as immigration, health care, education and criminal justice. ReligionLink offers a guide to experts on race and religion who can illuminate issues large and small.

Why it matters

People’s core beliefs about how others should be treated are often defined by religion and, sometimes, their view of race and ethnicity. The relationship between race and religion affects government policies on dozens of issues.

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Jump to Background

For more national and regional sources, see ReligionLink’s guides to:

National sources

  • Anthea Butler is assistant professor of religion at the University of Rochester in New York and specializes in African-American religions. She edits The North Star: A Journal of African American Religious History. Contact 585-275-5378, anthea.butler@rochester.edu.
  • Former U.S. Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen, who is Republican, wrote Love in Black and White: A Memoir of Race, Religion and Romance (Rowman & Littlefield, 2007) with his wife, Janet Langhart, president and CEO of Langhart Communications. Cohen is white and the son of a Jewish father and a Protestant Irish mother, while Langhart is African-American and the daughter of a Southern Baptist mother, a single parent. Contact through publicist Max Pulsinelli, 703-717-5015, max@maximumimpactpr.com.
  • Elizabeth Conde-Frazier is associate professor of religious education at Claremont School of Theology in Claremont, Calif. Her interests include immigration/migration and ecumenism. She wrote Hispanic Bible Institutes: A Community of Theological Construction (University of Scranton Press, 2005) and co-wrote A Many Colored Kingdom: Multicultural Dynamics for Spiritual Formation (Baker Academic, 2004). Contact 909-447-2530, ecfrazier@cst.edu.
  • The Rev. James H. Cone, an ordained minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, is Charles A. Briggs Distinguished Professor of Systematic Theology at Union Theological Seminary, New York City. He originated a systematic black theology. His numerous books include A Black Theology of Liberation (Orbis Books, 1990), Martin & Malcolm & America: A Dream or a Nightmare (Orbis, 1995), Speaking the Truth: Ecumenism, Liberation and Black Theology (Orbis, 1999) and Risks of Faith: The Emergence of a Black Theology of Liberation, 1968-1998 (Beacon Press, 2000). He is on sabbatical in spring 2007. Contact jcone@uts.columbia.edu.
  • Ed Gilbreath, who lives in the Chicago area, is editor of Today’s Christian magazine and editor at large for Christianity Today. He wrote Reconciliation Blues: A Black Evangelical’s Inside View of White Christianity (InterVarsity Press, 2006) and Gospel Trailblazer: An African-American Preacher’s Historic Journey Across Racial Lines (Moody, 2003). Contact edgilbreath@yahoo.com.
  • Douglas Hartmann is an associate professor of sociology at the University of Minnesota and, with colleagues Joseph Gerteis and Penny Edgell, a principal investigator of the three-year American Mosaic Project. The project has been exploring issues of race and religion. Contact 612-624-0835, hartm021@tc.umn.edu.
  • José Irizarry is an associate professor of cultural studies in religion and education and dean of doctoral level programs at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago. He can discuss public theology, religious education, ecumenism, intercultural issues and the arts. Contact 773-947-6332, jirizarry@mccormick.edu.
  • Sherman Jackson is a professor of Arabic and Islamic studies at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. His books include, as author, Islam and the Blackamerican: Looking Toward the Third Resurrection (Oxford University Press, 2005). Contact 734-763-4671, sajackso@umich.edu.
  • Khyati Y. Joshi is an assistant professor of education at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, N.J., and the author of New Roots in America’s Sacred Ground: Religion, Race And Ethnicity in Indian America (Rutgers University Press, 2006). Contact 210-692-2836, khyati@fdu.edu.
  • Mark Noll, Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History at Notre Dame University in Indiana, gave a three-part lecture series on “Race, Religion and American Politics from Nat Turner to George W. Bush” in October 2006. An expert on evangelicalism, his books include The Civil War as a Theological Crisis (University of North Carolina Press, 2006). Contact 574-631-7522, mnoll@nd.edu.
  • Mbaye Lo teaches Arabic at Duke University, Durham, N.C., and studies Islam in America. He is the author of Muslims in America: Race, Politics and Community Building (Amana, 2004). Contact 919-660-4356, mbayelo@duke.edu.
  • Jesse K. Martin is 2006-07 editor in chief of the student-published University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender and Class. Contact Martin, the journal at 410-706-7151; or faculty advisers Michael Pinard, 410-706-4121, mpinard@law.umaryland.edu, and Richard Boldt, 410-706-2727, rboldt@law.umaryland.edu.
  • Fumitaka Matsuoka is Robert Gordon Sproul Professor of Theology of Pacific School of Religion, Berkeley, Calif., where he is executive director of the Institute for Leadership Development and Study of Pacific and Asian North American Religion. He is an ordained minister in the Church of the Brethren. He co-edited Realizing the America of Our Hearts: Theological Voices of Asian Americans (Chalice Press, 2003) and wrote The Color of Faith: Building Community in a Multiracial Society (United Church Press, 1998) and Out of Silence: Emerging Themes in Asian American Churches (United Church Press, 1995.) Contact 510-849-8209, fmatsuoka@psr.edu.
  • Brenda Salter McNeil is president of Salter McNeil & Associates, based in Oak Park, Ill., and a nationally known consultant on racial healing and diversity within Christian organizations. She co-authored The Heart of Racial Justice: How Soul Change Leads to Social Change (InterVarsity Press, 2004). Contact 773-583-8085, saltermcneil@aol.com.
  • Patricia Raybon, a professor emeritus in journalism at the University of Colorado at Boulder, wrote My First White Friend: Confessions on Race, Love and Forgiveness (Penguin, 1997) and I Told the Mountain to Move (Tyndale House, 2005). She writes often about religion, family and race. Contact patricia@patriciaraybon.com.
  • Rabbi Marc Schneier is founder and president of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding and a leading figure in building up relationships between the Jewish community and African-Americans, Latinos, Christians and Muslims. He wrote Shared Dreams: Martin Luther King Jr. & the Jewish Community (Jewish Lights, 2000). Contact 917-492-2538, ffeu@ffeu.org.
  • Fernando Segovia is Oberlin Graduate Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. His interests include biblical scholarship, conversations across ethnic and racial lines, culture studies, diaspora Cubans and Latin American theologies. Contact fernando.f.segovia@vanderbilt.edu.
  • Benjamin Valentin teaches theology and culture at Andover Newton Theological School in Newton Centre, Mass., where he directs Latino/a studies. He co-chairs the AAR Latina/o Religion, Culture and Society Group. His expertise includes the intersection between Latinos and African-Americans, liberation theology and Hispanic theology. Valentin authored Mapping Public Theology: Beyond Culture, Identity and Difference (Trinity Press International, 2002); edited New Horizons in Hispanic/Latino(a) Theology (Pilgrim Press, 2003); and co-edited The Ties That Bind: African American and Hispanic American/Latino/a Theologies in Dialogue (Continuum, 2001). Contact 617-964-1100 ext. 245, bvalentin@ants.edu.

  • Cornel R. West is University Professor of Religion at Princeton University. His numerous books include, as author, Race Matters (Beacon Press, 2001) and, as co-editor, African American Religious Thought: An Anthology (Westminster John Knox Press, 2003). Contact 609-258-0021, or through maryannr@princeton.edu.

DENOMINATIONS

Most denominations have a department or commission on race. Among the largest:

UNIVERSITY CENTERS

Many universities have centers that focus on the study of race and ethnicity, and many of those have faculty members and/or programs that include religion. Web sites offer a range of resources. Here are some of the most prominent centers:

Background

ARTICLES

  • Los Altos United Methodist Church in Long Beach, Calif., tracks news articles about race and religion.
  • The fall 2006 edition of the Nieman Reports, titled Global Migration and Immigration, includes an article by George Washington University sociologist Amitai Etzioni that says it makes more sense to refer to Hispanics — and all people — in terms of ethnicity, rather than as a racial category.

  • Read “What’s Race Got to Do With It?” published Feb. 13, 2006, by The Nation.

POLLS & RESEARCH

Regional sources

IN THE NORTHEAST

  • Wallace D. Best is assistant professor of African and African-American religious studies at Harvard University, Boston. He wrote Passionately Human, No Less Divine: Religion and Culture in Black Chicago, 1915-1952 (Princeton University Press, 2005). Contact 617-384-7287, wbest@hds.harvard.edu.
  • Khalilah Brown-Dean is assistant professor of political science and African-American studies at Yale University, New Haven, Conn. She is on sabbatical during 2008. Contact 203-432-6040, khalilah.brown-dean@yale.edu.
  • Marla Frederick is an assistant professor of African-American studies and of religion at Harvard University, Boston. Her expertise includes the African-American religious experience. She wrote Between Sundays: Black Women and Everyday Struggles of Faith (University of California Press, 2003). Contact 617-496-8551, frederic@fas.harvard.edu.
  • Cheryl Townsend Gilkes is John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Professor of Sociology and African-American Studies at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. Her expertise includes African-American religious history, comparative race relations, and race and ethnicity in the United States. She wrote If It Wasn’t for the Women: Black Women’s Experience and Womanist Culture in Church and Community (Orbis Books, 2000). Contact 207-859-4715, ctgilkes@colby.edu.
  • Henry Goldschmidt, assistant professor of religion and society at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn., wrote Race and Religion Among the Chosen Peoples of Crown Heights (Rutgers, 2006) and co-edited Race, Nation and Religion in the Americas (Oxford University Press, 2004). He teaches a course called “Race and the Making of American Jewish Identities.” Contact 860-685-2294, hgoldschmidt@wesleyan.edu.
  • David Kyuman Kim is assistant professor of religious studies at Connecticut College in New London, where he directs the Center for the Comparative Study of Race and Ethnicity. He has researched the Asian-American religious experience. Contact 860-439-5075, dkkim@conncoll.edu.
  • The Rev. Preston N. Williams is Houghton Research Professor of Theology and Contemporary Change Emeritus at Harvard University, Boston. He directs the Summer Leadership Institute and is an ordained minister in the United Presbyterian Church. Contact 617-495-5766, kristin_gunst@harvard.edu.

IN THE EAST

  • Michael Eric Dyson, Avalon Foundation Professor in the Humanities at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, researches race, religion and popular culture. He has a daily syndicated radio show and is the author of numerous books, most recently Debating Race (Basic Civitas Books, 2007). Contact Jason.Brantley@perseusbooks.com.
  • Eddie S. Glaude Jr. is associate professor of religion at Princeton University, and his specialties include African-American religious history. His books include, as author, In a Shade of Blue: Pragmatism and the Politics of Black America (University of Chicago, 2007) and Exodus! Religion, Race and Nation in Early 19th Century Black America (University of Chicago Press, 2000). Contact esglaude@princeton.edu.
  • Lawrence Mamiya is professor of religion and Africana studies and holds the Mattie M. Paschall Davis and Norman H. Davis Chair at Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, N.Y. He co-authored The Black Church in the African American Experience (Duke University Press, 1990) and has written about the Nation of Islam. Contact 845- 437-5522, or through his Web site.
  • Pyong Gap Min is professor of sociology at Queens College, Flushing, N.Y, and his research interests include race and ethnic relations, ethnic identity, immigrants’ religions and Asian-Americans. During the 2006-07 academic year, he is working as a visiting scholar at the Russell Sage Foundation. His books include, as editor, the three-volume Encyclopedia of Racism in the United States (Greenwood Press, 2005) and, as co-editor, Religions in Asian America: Building Faith Communities (Altamira Press, 2002). Contact 718-997-2810, pyonggap.min@qc.cuny.edu.
  • The Rev. Cheryl J. Sanders is a professor of Christian ethics at Howard University and pastor of Third Street Church of God, both in Washington, D.C. Her expertise includes race and culture. Books she has written include Saints in Exile: The Holiness-Pentecostal Experience in African American Religion and Culture (Oxford University Press, 1999). Read an essay she wrote on the role of religion in electoral politics, posted by the “Speaking of Faith” public radio program. Contact 202-347-5889, csanders@howard.edu.
  • The Rev. Peter Paris, an ordained Baptist minister, is Elmer G. Homrighausen Professor of Christian Social Ethics and Liaison with the Princeton University African American Studies Program at Princeton Theological Seminary. Contact 609-497-7814, peter.paris@ptsem.edu.
  • The Rev. Harold Dean Trulear, associate professor of applied theology at Howard University in Washington, D.C., has expertise in the sociology of religion, social policy and religion, and African-American religion. He directs GLOBE Community Ministries of Philadelphia. Contact 202-806-0640, htrulear@howard.edu.
  • Tamelyn Tucker-Worgs, assistant professor of political science and African-American studies at Hood College in Frederick, Md., teaches African-American religions, the politics of the black church and black liberation theology. Contact 301-696-3686, tuckerworgs@hood.edu.
  • Judith Weisenfeld, William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Religion at Vassar College, wrote Hollywood Be Thy Name: African American Religion in American Film, 1929-1949 (University of California Press, forthcoming May 2007) and African American Women and Christian Activism: New York’s Black YWCA, 1905-1945 (Harvard University Press, 1998). Contact juweisenfeld@vassar.edu.

IN THE SOUTHEAST

  • Katie Geneva Cannon is Annie Scales Rogers Professor of Christian Ethics at the Union Theological Seminary, Richmond, Va. She was the first African-American woman ordained in the United Presbyterian Church (USA). Contact kcannon@union-psce.edu.
  • Robert M. Franklin is president of Morehouse College in Atlanta. His books include, as author, Crisis in the Village: Restoring Hope in African American Communities (Fortress Press, 2007).Contact 404-215-2645, rfranklin@morehouse.edu.
  • Eric L. Goldstein is an associate professor of history and of Jewish studies at Emory University, Atlanta, and edits the quarterly journal American Jewish History. He wrote The Price of Whiteness: Jews, Race and American Identity (Princeton University Press, 2006). Contact 404-727-4470, egoldst@emory.edu.
  • Jacquelyn Grant is a professor of systematic theology at the Interdenominational Theological Seminary, Atlanta, and founded and directs its Black Women in Church and Society program. She wrote White Women’s Christ and Black Women’s Jesus: Feminist Christology & Womanist Response (Oxford University Press, 2006) Contact 404-527-5712, jgrant@itc.edu.
  • Michelle Gonzalez Maldonado is an assistant professor of religious studies at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Fla. Her interests include Afro-Cuban studies, feminist theologies and Hispanic religiosity. She wrote Afro-Cuban Theology: Religion,Race, Culture and Identity (University Press of Florida, 2006). Contact 305-284-9782, mmaldonado@miami.edu.
  • Gerardo Marti is an assistant professor of sociology at Davidson College, Davidson, N.C. He teaches about race and ethnic relations and is the author of A Mosaic of Believers: Diversity and Innovation in a Multiethnic Church (Indiana University Press, 2005). Marti is researching whether worship music matters for making congregations racially and ethnically diverse. Contact 704-894-2481, gemarti@davidson.edu.
  • Michael Leo Owens is an assistant professor of political science and religion at Emory University in Atlanta and the author of God and Government in the Ghetto: The Politics of Church-State Collaboration in Black America (University of Chicago Press, 2007). Contact 404-727-9322, Michael.leo.owens@emory.edu.
  • Alton B. Pollard III directs the Program of Black Church Studies at Emory University, Atlanta, where he is an associate professor of religion and culture. He co-edited How Long This Road: Race, Religion and the Legacy of C. Eric Lincoln (Palgrave MacMillan, 2003). Contact 404-727-4196, abpolla@emory.edu.
  • Chris Rice co-directs the Center for Reconciliation at Duke University. He wrote Grace Matters: A True Story of Race, Friendship and Faith in the Heart of the South (Jossey-Bass, 2002) and co-authored More Than Equals: Racial Healing for the Sake of the Gospel (InterVarsity Press, 1993). Contact 919-660-3578, crice@div.duke.edu.

IN THE SOUTH

  • Amiri Yasin Al-Hadid is a professor and head of African studies at Tennessee State University, Nashville, and co-author of Between Cross and Crescent: Christian and Muslim Perspectives on Malcolm and Martin (University Press of Florida, 2002). He is a Sunni Muslim. Contact 615-963-5583, Aalhadid@tnstate.edu.
  • The Rev. Lewis V. Baldwin, who is an ordained Baptist minister, is a professor of religious studies at Vanderbilt University, Nashville. His numerous books include, as co-author, The Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.: The Boundaries of Law, Politics and Religion (University of Notre Dame Press, 2002) and Between Cross and Crescent: Christian and Muslim Perspectives on Malcolm and Martin (University Press of Florida, 2002). Contact Lewis.V.Baldwin@vanderbilt.edu.
  • Shayne Lee is assistant professor of sociology at Tulane University, New Orleans. He wrote T.D. Jakes: America’s New Preacher (New York University Press, 2005). Contact 504-862-3088, cell 832-640-0170, slee5@tulane.edu.
  • Yolanda Pierce is a professor of English at the University of Kentucky, Lexington. She wrote Hell Without Fires: Slavery, Christianity and the Antebellum Spiritual Narrative (University Press of Florida, 2005). Contact 829-257-6960, ynpier2@uky.edu.

IN THE MIDWEST

  • Carolyn Chen is assistant professor of sociology and Asian-American studies at Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill. She has been researching Taiwanese immigrants who convert to evangelical Christianity or Buddhism, or who do not adopt a religious affiliation. Contact cechen@northwestern.edu.
  • Korie Edwards is an assistant professor of sociology at Ohio State University, Columbus. She researches interracial churches and African-American churches, and co-authored Against All Odds: The Struggle for Racial Integration in Religious Organizations (New York University Press, 2005). Contact 614-247-8482, edwards.623@sociology.osu.edu.
  • The Rev. Dwight N. Hopkins, an ordained American Baptist minister, is a professor of theology at the University of Chicago. His expertise includes black theology. His numerous books include, as author, Being Human: Race, Culture and Religion (Augsburg Fortress, 2005) and Heart and Head: Black Theology — Past, Present and Future (Palgrave MacMillan, 2003). Contact 773-834-0006, dhopkins@midway.uchicago.edu.
  • Larry G. Murphy is a professor of the history of Christianity at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, Northwestern University, in Evanston, Ill. He wrote African-American Faith in America (Facts on File, 2002) and edited Down by the Riverside: Readings in African American Religion (New York University Press, 2000). Contact 847-866-3977, larry-murphy@excite.com.
  • Mary Sawyer is professor-in-charge of religious studies at Iowa State University, Ames, and co-founded its African-American studies program. She teaches African-American religion classes. She co-edited Peoples Temple and Black Religion in America (Indiana University Press, 2004). Contact 515-294-3341, sawyerm@iastate.edu.
  • Christian Smith is a sociology professor at the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Ind., where he directs the Center for the Study of Religion and Society. His books include, as co-author, Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America (Oxford University Press, 2000). Contact 574-631-4531, Chris.Smith@nd.edu.
  • Omar M. McRoberts is an associate professor of sociology at the University of Chicago. He wrote Streets of Glory: Church and Community in a Black Urban Neighborhood (University of Chicago Press, 2003). Contact 773-834-8970, omcrober@midway.uchicago.edu.

IN THE SOUTHWEST

  • Michael O. Emerson, a sociology professor at Rice University in Houston, directs the Center on Race, Religion and Urban Life. His books include, as co-author, Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America (Oxford University Press, 2000) and Against All Odds: The Struggle for Racial Integration in Religious Organizations (New York University Press, 2005) and, as author, People of the Dream: Multiracial Congregations in the United States (Princeton University, 2006). Contact 713-348-4448, moe@rice.edu.
  • Eric McDaniel is assistant professor of government at the University of Texas at Austin. He researches religion and politics, including black religious organizations’ political involvement and what effect they have on black political activity. He is on leave in 2007. Contact 512-232-7268, emcdaniel@mail.utexas.edu.
  • Brian McKenzie is an assistant professor of political science at Texas A&M University, College Station. He teaches about race, and religion and politics. He co-authored Countervailing Forces in African-American Civic Activism, 1973-1994 (Cambridge University Press, 2006). Contact 979-862-7098, mckenzie@polisci.tamu.edu.

IN THE WEST/NORTHWEST

  • Rudy Busto is an associate professor of religious studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His specialties include race and religion in the United States, and Asian-American/Pacific Islander religions, Latino religion and evangelical Christianity. Contact rude@religion.ucsb.edu.
  • Brad Christerson is an assistant professor of sociology at Biola University, La Mirada, Calif. He co-authored Against All Odds: The Struggle for Racial Integration in Religious Organizations (New York University Press, 2005). Contact brad.christerson@biola.edu.
  • Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo is a sociology professor at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. She edited Religion and Social Justice for Immigrants (Rutgers, 2007). Contact 213-740-3606, sotelo@usc.edu.
  • Jane Iwamura is an assistant professor of religion and of American studies and ethnicity at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. She specializes in Asian-American religions, race and popular culture. She co-edited Revealing the Sacred in Asian & Pacific America (Routledge, 2003). Contact 213-821-2851, iwamura@usc.edu.
  • Russell Jeung is an assistant professor of Asian-American studies at San Francisco State University, and his interests include race and religion. He wrote Faithful Generations: Race and New Asian American Churches (Rutgers University Press, 2007). Contact 415-338-7586, rjeung@sfsu.edu.
  • Charles J. McClain Jr. is lecturer in residence and vice chairman of the jurisprudence and social policy program at the University of California, Berkeley. He wrote In Search of Equality: The Chinese Struggle Against Discrimination in Nineteenth-Century America (University of California, 1996). Contact 510-642-4038, cmcclain@law.berkeley.edu.
  • Sara M. Patterson, visiting assistant professor of American religious history at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles co-edited Race, Religion, Region: Landscapes of Encounter in the American West (University of Arizona Press, 2006). Contact 310-338-8622, spatterson@lmu.edu.
  • Roberto Lint Sagarena is an assistant professor of religion and of American studies and ethnicity at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. His research interests include religion and migration. Contact 213-740-8815, lint@rcf.usc.edu.
  • Paul R. Spickard is professor of 20th-century American social and cultural history at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He co-edited Revealing the Sacred in Asian & Pacific America (Routledge, 2003). Contact 805-893-2512, spickard@history.ucsb.edu.
  • David K. Yoo is an associate professor of history at Claremont McKenna College. He edited New Spiritual Homes: Religion and Asian Americans (University of Hawaii, 1999) and wrote Growing Up Nisei: Race, Generation and Culture Among Japanese Americans of California, 1924-49 (University of Illinois, 1999). Contact 909-607-2828, david.yoo@claremontmckenna.edu.
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