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ON THE
Bookshelf
“Blacks and Whites in Christian America:
How Racial Discrimination Shapes Religious
Convictions” (New York University Press,
2012) is co-authored by Emerson, the Allyn
and Gladys Cline Professor of Sociology and
co-director of the Kinder Institute for Urban
Research, and Jason Shelton, an assistant professor
of sociology and anthropology at the
University of Texas at Arlington.
“We often hear the term ‘the black church,’”
Emerson said. “We really wanted to find out,
what is the black church? We wanted to know
how black Protestants — who comprise 93
percent of black churchgoers — differ from
“Ultimately,
these religious
differences play
a substantial role
in U.S. life, from
identity politics
to working for
racial justice and
reconciliation.”
Rice Sociologist Examines
Race, Religion in America
A new book co-authored by Rice sociologist Michael
Emerson assesses racial differences in how black and
white Protestants practice their faith.
their white counterparts. We wanted to see if
there’s anything unique about how they practice
their faith.” Emerson said that while their
research, including interviews with numerous
black pastors, showed that there are “absolutely
no differences” between blacks and
whites when it comes to the core beliefs (for
example, the Apostles’ Creed) of Protestants, it
revealed “stunning” differences about how the
two groups go about their faith.
“At the very core, in the fundamental
beliefs of Christianity — that God exists,
for example — black and white Protestants
do not differ,” Emerson said. “But on almost
everything else, even the terms they use to
describe who God is, they do differ and often
dramatically so.”
All of these differences were conceptualized
by Emerson and Shelton into what they
call the five building blocks of the black
Protestant faith. The building blocks include:
• Experiential: Black Protestant faith is active
and experiential; it is less concerned
with precise doctrinal contours than is
white mainline or evangelical Christianity.
• Survival: Their faith is critical to survival
and helps individuals cope with suffering
associated with everyday trials and
tribulations.
• Mystery: Black Protestant faith is mystical
and expresses an appreciation for the mystery
in life; it includes folklore and cultural
components driving from the African diaspora,
the consequences of racial inequality
in America and non-Christian religions.
• Miraculous: Black Protestant faith is confident
and comprehensive; the miraculous
is ordinary and the ordinary is miraculous.
• Justice: Their faith is committed to social
justice and equality for all individuals and
groups in society.
Emerson noted that all of these differences
remain after accounting for differences
in education, income, age, gender and region
of residence. These differences were found
even when comparing black Protestants to
the more zealous arm of white Protestantism,
white evangelicals.
Emerson believes that the differences between
black and white Protestants are rooted
directly in the country’s history of racial
discrimination.
“It’s based on personal and communal
experiences,” Emerson said. “White Protestant
faith has never been about survival, whereas
black faith from the start has been. Slavery
isn’t here anymore, but that idea of who God
is has not changed for African-Americans.”
Emerson said he hopes the book will
bring greater understanding to the differences
in how white and black Protestants approach
religion.
“Ultimately, these religious differences
play a substantial role in U.S. life, from identity
politics to working for racial justice and
reconciliation,” Emerson said. “By going about
faith differently, valuing different aspects of
the Christian God and having divergent religious
histories, black and white Protestants
vote overwhelmingly opposite of one another,
and often work against each other in efforts
toward racial equity and cohesion. For real
progress to be made, these groups will need
to truly understand one another.”
— Amy Hodges
44 www.rice.edu/ricemagazine