Building on the foundation laid by Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America (Oxford, 2000), this book offers an updated analysis of the complex entanglement of race and religion in American society. Taking into account cultural context and important changes over time, this volume questions the existence of a post-racial reality for religious congregations and spiritual interests. Although the pervasive and overt discrimination and segregation of yesterday’s Jim Crow era has passed, its residual presence lives on in subtler inflections of racial preferences and ... More

Building on the foundation laid by Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America (Oxford, 2000), this book offers an updated analysis of the complex entanglement of race and religion in American society. Taking into account cultural context and important changes over time, this volume questions the existence of a post-racial reality for religious congregations and spiritual interests. Although the pervasive and overt discrimination and segregation of yesterday’s Jim Crow era has passed, its residual presence lives on in subtler inflections of racial preferences and privileges that continue to divide American Christians along racial lines. In the midst of this otherwise bleak situation, there has in recent years been a growth of multiracial congregations as well as interracial religious collaborations among those committed to a racially unified spiritual vision. This book examines the entrenched divisions that persist within American churches, and analyzes new attempts at building and maintaining multiracial congregations. The chapters address the historical dimensions of racial separation between American Christians and chronicle contemporary examples of congregational endeavors at racial and ethnic unity. As a whole, the book acknowledges important historical causations for racialized divisions in the American Church but points to collaborative, constructive, and cohesive ways forward that, while not easily accomplished, represent effective approaches to racial equality and reconciliation.