Faith Communities and the Fight for Racial Justice

Book excerpt: "The work for racial justice in the U.S. in the decades after the high-water mark of the Civil Rights movement is a significant yet too often neglected chapter of American religious history- a chapter overshadowed to a great extent by the Religious Right, which has gotten much more scholarly attention. For decades, little known faith leaders across the U.S. did what they could to create fair and affordable housing, contribute to community development, advocate for affirmative action, protest racial profiling, and mobilize voter registration. Many of these leaders were affiliated with mainstream majority-White Protestant denominations, Black denominations, Roman Catholic groups, and Jewish organizations. Many of the Protestants were African Methodist Episcopal, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, or United Church of Christ. Some were Brethren, Disciples of Christ, Mennonites, Moravians, or Quakers. The leaders often formed coalitions of faith-based and nonsectarian organizations. The focus of Wuthnow's new book will be on local, unsung struggles for racial justice-- happening in response to local events, led by local clergy, and drawing on local networks. This was advocacy work that wasn't covered by national or international news media, and the achievements of these struggles were often small (rather than sweeping and dramatic). These struggles will be covered in a series of thematic chapters; one chapter on concerted action by faith groups & leaders in particular U.S. communities for fair, affordable, desegregated housing; another chapter on affirmative action and busing; a third on efforts to advocate for policy reform and for the end of racial profiling, etc. Wuthnow will discuss the systematic racism that these racial justice advocates confronted -- racism that's thoroughly ingrained in institutional structures, and that has proven to be impervious to strategies that involve personal approaches to sensitizing hearts and minds to the evils of racism. Wuthnow argues that this historical record provides lessons for contemporary racial justice warriors working either within or outside of faith communities. Progressive religious groups have been most effective in supporting civil rights efforts whey they're focused on very specific tasks -- e.g. voting rights, gerrymandering, discrimination in hiring, inequality on the job, and lack of access to equal opportunity in education -- and when they organize strategically, form coalitions, use the right kinds of knowledge and expertise, and adapt to new situations"--