Edited by J. Russell Hawkins and Phillip Luke Sinitiere
Oxford University Press, New York, NY. 273 pages.
“Christians and the Color Line” is a compilation of thought-provoking essays by experts in academe written in response to the groundbreaking book published in 2000, “Divided by Faith” by Michael Emerson and Christian Smith. In “Divided by Faith,” sociologists labeled America a racialized society, one according to the authors, “ … wherein race matters profoundly for differences in life experiences, life opportunities, and social relationship.”
“Christians and the Color Line” essayists begin with the observations in “Divided by Faith” and brilliantly use history, statistics and stories to give a contemporary perspective on church and race. Readers are able to peek through the moral and ethical veneer of conservative religion to view the internal struggle between evangelicals who favor a limited — with deliberate speed — form of integration and equality between the races, and the progressive evangelicals, and their quest for social transformation — a systemic approach to eradicating racism from the institutions and structures in American society, including the realm of the Christian Church.
The book acknowledges the historic role of the church, tolerating — even promoting slavery — and justifying both segregation and desegregation. The authors contend that while evangelical white Christians have striven to dismantle racism and discrimination, often they fail to see the role institutions play in keeping segregation and inequality in place. Whereas it is the norm for African Americans, and other people of color, to encounter institutional racism daily, most white evangelical Christians are generally spared the direct experience.
The inability to relate racism with social structures is rooted in an “individualistic theology, nurtured in isolation from those who most acutely feel the effects of a racialized society … causes whites evangelicals to be blind and insensitive to the realities of their brother and sisters of color,” according to Hawkins and Sinitiere.
“Christians and the Color Line” directs a critical eye towards the multicultural church movement thriving in many mainline denominations and the noble cause to make congregations more diverse. Though, much has been done in bringing people of color and whites together, essayist Korie L. Edwards asks, “ … can such a movement disrupt racialized social structures? In other words, to what extent does bringing people together across racial and ethnic lines for congregational worship improve, for instance, the political, economic, health, or educational statuses of the people of color? How does it reduce racial inequality?”
“Christians and the Color Line” is an important book. It is like reading the results of a missional biopsy, to observe the presence or extent of the disease of racism in the Body of Christ and society. This book provides a diagnosis that a deeper empathy is required. The church, evangelical and progressive, is challenged to stand in the shoes of the other, and care enough until transformation comes.
Sterling Morse is coordinator of Cross Cultural Ministries of the PC(USA) Mission Agency.
