The Elusive Dream: The Power of Race in Interracial Churches

by Korie L. Edwards

It is communion Sunday at a mixed-race church. A black pastor and white head elder stand before the sanctuary as lay leaders pass out the host. An African-American woman sings a gospel song as a woman of Asian descent plays the piano. Then a black woman in the congregation throws her hands up and yells, over and over, "Thank you Lawd!" A few other African-Americans in the pews say "Amen," while white parishioners sit stone-faced. The befuddled white head elder reads aloud from the Bible, his soft voice drowned out by the shouts of praise. Even in this proudly interracial church, America's racial divide is a constant presence.

In The Elusive Dream , Korie L. Edwards presents the surprising results of an in-depth study of interracial they help perpetuate the very racial inequality they aim to abolish. To arrive at this conclusion, she combines a nuanced analysis of national survey data with an in-depth examination of one particular church. She shows that mixed-race churches adhere strongly to white norms. African Americans in multiracial settings adapt their behavior to make white congregants comfortable. Behavior that white worshipers perceive as out of bounds is felt by blacks as too limiting. Yet to make interracial churches work, blacks must adjust their behavior to accommodate the predilections of whites. They conform to white expectations in church just as they do elsewhere.

Thorough, incisive, and surprising, The Elusive Dream raises provocative questions about the ongoing problem of race in the national culture.

Genres: Race, Christian, Religion, Church, Sociology, Christianity, African American

248 pages, Paperback

First published July 28, 2008

About the author

Dr. Korie Edwards (Ph.D., University of Illinois at Chicago, 2004) is Associate Professor at The Ohio State University, specializing in Gender, Race, & Class.

Reviews

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was certainly a necessary resource for understanding the contemporary landscape of interracial churches. It provides a clear-eyed look at why interracial churches remain so elusive: The triple threat of white structural advantage, white normativity, and white transparency contributes to churches that still prioritize whiteness and devalue the religious traditions and practices of racial minorities, specifically African-Americans. Consequently, interracial churches end up looking, sounding, and worshipping like predominantly white churches.

Korie Edwards' thesis was excellently explained in this book. I appreciated the case study of Crosstown, a conservative-leaning interracial church, in highlighting how these issues play out within an actual church context. It also helped me juxtapose this example with my own experience at an interracial church. I did wish at times that there were other case studies included, because I wanted to see how other churches navigated these tensions, especially more progressive interracial churches.

While Edwards did a phenomenal job exploring the power of race in churches, she ends her book by talking about how creating a truly interracial church that doesn't privilege whiteness requires a radical approach. I totally agree, but it felt like I was left hanging a bit by the end. I would have appreciated one last chapter with some suggested next steps, but then I suppose that is so specific to one's congregation that it would be hard to write. Either way, this book gave me a lot to reflect upon. I also intend to explore this topic further with other resources.

[Tyler Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fascinating and heart-breaking read. If you work in interracial religious spaces, or for the church to reflect a little more of Revelation 7, we need to grapple with this work. Dr. Edwards' thesis is that "interracial churches work, that is remain racially integrated, to the extent that they are first comfortable places for whites to attend” (6). I think she defends this point beyond a shadow of a doubt. I learned a lot through her definition of whiteness as the trifecta of white structural advantaged + white normativity + white transparency. She shows that diversity in the pews does not mean that power and authority is shared. Rather, just the opposite: normally diverse people stay together to the extent that white's are kept happy. Though this work is mostly descriptive and minimally prescriptive, she is correct to say that "A first step in rectifying racial inequalities, therefore, is exposing and addressing those latent ideologies and interests that sustain white hegemony" (136).

My only criticism of the work is that there is never a distinction made between a trans-cultural theological principles and a captivity to white hegemony. Whether elements of worship, theology of preaching, doctrine of the gifts, or church governance, I sense that Dr. Edwards didn't allow space for genuine disagreement about what the Bible says we should think and do: it was always a cultural battle where whites would win out. I think she would respond that two cannot be separated, and I agree. In fact, she might even say that I only think that there are trans-cultural theological truths "because whites [like me] are accustomed to their cultural practices and ideologies being the norm and to being structurally dominant in nearly every social institution" (139). And that is also true. But I do think there are times when she uses an example of white normativity that is actually an exegetically-informed-theological-decision and not much more. But for every example that I would apply this criticism to, Dr. Edwards offers a dozen others that make this work so necessary for engaging.

[Titus Hjelm · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a brilliant little book! The author does not identify as a Marxist or a critical scholar, there is very little in terms of theoretical frills, yet she manages to show in a very hands-on way how power (hegemony) works in the context of an interracial church. White privilege is unmasked in very concrete ways. The multimethod approach increases the scope of the argument, yet the focus on one congregation is what makes the narrative so lively. Writing in 2008, Edwards says: 'Race is deemed inconsequential because there are very few explicit racists any more." I wonder if she still agrees with that statement in 2020.

[Jadon Reynolds · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent exploration of the complications surrounding the pursuit of inter-racial church communities. My takeaways: inter-mingling is not enough to overcome difference. White ecclesial hegemony stands dramatically in the way of flourishing inter-racial communities.

[Adam Shields · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: An ethnographic study of an interracial church with context from national church research. 

A friend of mine recommended The Elusive Dream a year or so ago, and since then, I have listened to several interviews with Dr. Korie Edwards as well as most of her podcasts from this year. This allowed me to be familiar with the rough outline and look forward to reading the book. The Elusive Dream is an adaptation of Dr. Edwards' dissertation. A second edition of the book came out in Oct 2021, but the copy I read was the first edition from 2008.

The Elusive Dream is an ethnographic study of an interracial church at its heart. Most interracial churches are white-led (70% according to recent research by Michael Emerson), and most multiethnic churches (where no racial/ethnic group has more than 80% of the congregation) are still majority white. Dr. Edwards chose a church to study that was Black-led, not a recent church plant, and when she started her research, was still majority white. This means that even among multiethnic/interracial churches (which are 16% of congregations according to Emerson's research above), Edwards chose a church that was unusual. But during the years of her study, the congregation shifted from majority white to majority Black. That shift is central to the reality of interracial churches. Even with Black leadership, and especially with white leadership, interracial churches tend to center white cultural expressions of church.

As discussed in Myth of Colorblind Christians, many churches in the US have focused on church growth through the Homononous Unit Principle, a concept that advocates churches orient around a single cultural expression for the purpose of better evangelizing people of that culture.  That principle still has some influence in interracial and multiethnic churches because many of these churches tend to not have diverse representations of class, education, or culture, even if they are racially or ethnically diverse. This is how Dr. Edwards describes it early in the book:

However, as I continued to visit interracial churches across the country, I noticed a pattern. Nearly all of the churches, regardless of their specific racial compositions, reminded me of the predominantly white churches I had visited. Generally, the churches were racially diverse at all levels. Whites and racial minorities were in the pews and in leadership. There were sometimes cultural practices and markers that represented racial minorities in these congregations, such as a gospel music selection, a display of flags from various countries around the world, or services translated into Spanish. Yet the diversity did not seem to affect the core culture and practices of the religious organizations. That is, the style of preaching, music, length of services, structure of services, dress codes, political and community activities, missionary interests, and theological emphases tended to be more consistent with those of the predominantly white churches I had observed. These churches exhibited many of the practices and beliefs common to white churches within their same religious affiliation, only with a few additional "ethnic" practices or markers. It was like adding rainbow sprinkles to a dish of ice cream. In the end, you still have a dish of ice cream, only with a little extra color and sweetness.

One of the most important things to state clearly is that segregation of churches was the result historically of white racism. Churches were generally integrated prior to the Civil War, although they were white-controlled. After the Civil War, Black congregants were no longer required to submit to white leadership and began to form new Black-led congregations to fully express their Christian faith. According to Edwards by 1890, it is estimated that 90 percent of Black Christians attended a Black-led congregation. Again, this is not because Black Christians were resistant to worshiping with Christians of other races, but because they were segregated within other churches or excluded from churches completely.

Elusive Dream refers to the dream that Martin Luther King Jr spoke about in his famous speech. That dream remains elusive not just because of differences in worship styles, although there are differnces in agregate between racial groups as a result of historic segregation of worship. That dream remains elusive because culturally, white Christians as the demographically and culturally dominate group within the US leave congregations when the worship and church activities as a whole do not center white comfort.

As part of the ethnography there is a detail of two white pastors leaving the church relatively close together and the controversy over hiring new associates. Several white families left when the two white pastors left. Additional families left when there was an attempt to hire a Black associate pastor. But most importantly, it appears that white families tended to leave the church when their children hit teen or pre-teen ages. Some white families that were interviewed after leaving left the church preimtimvely because so many other families left when their children became teens.

Another part of the book details the differnces in orientation toward worship and the ways that controversy erupted over the desire among some African American worshipers to "shout" or have other examples of more expressive worship. The Black senior pastor attempted to stop these expressive worship practices because of the discomfort of white members. As detailed later by Edwards, it appears that even when the congregation became majority Black, a small group of Black members that were concerned about the departure of white members would side with white members against proposals popular with most Black and some white members. While there is a lot of detail and discussion in  the book, this is the summary finding:

I have argued that interracial churches work to the extent that they are, first, comfortable places for whites to attend. This is because whites are accustomed to their cultural practices and ideologies being the norm and to being structurally dominant in nearly every social institution. What this means is that, for interracial churches to stay interracial, racial minorities must be willing to sacrifice their preferences, or they must have already sufficiently acculturated into and accepted the dominant culture and whites' privileged status. Consequently, the chances for a widespread movement of interracial churches are slim.

In the end, Edwards suggests that interracial churches have to reject white cultural normatively to be successful in the long term. And while she thinks that is possible, she is not particularly hopeful.

If churches want to realize Dr. King's dream, they must first embrace a dream of racial justice and equality. Interracial churches must be places that all racial groups can call their own, where all racial groups have the power to influence the minor and major decisions of the church, where the culture and experiences of all racial groups are not just tolerated, but appreciated. This demands a radical approach and is certainly a high calling. Whites and racial minorities will have to resist white normativity and structural dominance and fully embrace the cultures, ideas, and perspectives of all racial groups. Otherwise, the dream will remain elusive.

I have 16 quotes saved to my GoodReads account from The Elusive Dream. If you attend or are interested in racial issues within the Evangelical church, I highly recommend this book to raise awareness of the potential for problems and how the church may (even if unintentionally) maintain a culture of white superiority, white cultural normativity, and white comfort. While this is not the only book that details the difficulties of interracial churches, the ethnography focus is helpful to follow a single church over the years to illustrate real problems.

[Protim Adhikari · Rating 5 out of 5]

For leaders looking to do the honest work of understanding communities AND the harder work of changing them, read this book and reference it often. Speaking from experience, this is the text that I leaned on most heavily for my thesis on developing a congregational model for racial reconciliation.

Beneath the demographic diversity in today's "multi-ethnic church" movement, Edwards argues that hidden forces in interracial churches may actually be deepening racial inequalities. In her words, these churches often function like white churches by adding “rainbow sprinkles to a dish of [vanilla] ice cream.” Therefore, from beginning to end, Edwards invites leaders to examine how their ministry philosophies welcome minority presence while preserving majority power.

With that as her message, Edwards' method a) surveys relevant sociological terms (white structural advantage, white normativity, white transparency, hegemony, counter-hegemony) and b) analyzes congregations and the various subgroups therein. However, the real genius of this book is that the author contextualizes such terminology and analysis in her case study of "Crosstown Church". This allows congregational leaders to re-imagine Edwards' findings for their faith communities.

Simply put, I wouldn't necessarily locate this book in a lay discussion group (though it wouldn't hurt). I would---and do---regard it as a must-read and reference manual for leaders that are serious about creating more equitable congregations and communities.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating book looking at the role that race plays in interracial churches.

The basic theme of the book is that white Supremacy is baked into our culture so much that it is the foundation for interracial churches. This is especially the case because the majority of interracial churches are white churches that People of Color then join. So the systems, foundations, and cultures are white. As Korie Edwards notes, "I propose that interracial churches work, that is remain racially integrated, to the extent that they are first comfortable places for whites to attend." (Again, predominantly whites are not joining churches of Color.)

The book takes a two prong methodology. First Edwards works with the National Congregations Study, a nationally representative, congregational level data set. The NCS has a wealth of data on congregational structure, religious practices, theologies, and interrelations, among many other areas of interest. In tandem with this data Edwards visited an interracial church to see how this data applied to a particular church.

A lot of good tough things in this book. As a White Pastor who has worked with interracial churches for 14 years, I admit I found the book sobering. I particularly found the last chapter had a great summation of the themes of the book and a good break down of some of the general categories of White and African American attendees at an interracial church. Edwards work on the interaction of these 6 general categories, 3 for white and 3 for African Americans, is also very interesting. Edwards argues that typically the largest group of Whites in an interracial church are people who curious about racial diversity but have the least roots/ties to the church, and are the most likely to leave when white culture/structure is threatened. This group of Whites tied to a small group of African Americans who have strong interracial ties and desire for an interracial church are the most likely to acquiesce to whites to keep them in the church, are the most likely to keep any progress of a church moving beyond white norms.

The one thing I would have liked to have seen are the exemptions. Edwards gives us the majority of interracial churches, but I am intrigued of the outliers. Do they have the same patterns? Are there things we can learn from the outliers to the general norms? Are they churches where whites attend a Church of Color?

I recommend.

[Pete Cossey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting study into interracial church white-non-white interaction and the influence of whiteness on church operation etc. Would like to see further study on this with more than one congregation although some National Congregations Study data was used. I did not feel the arguments were very compelling.

[Joseph Sverker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. Well researched and well written. Edwards main point is that interracial churches in the main reiterate a whiteness norm even though it claims to be diverse. She shows this in a very convincing way. There are some minor points that I would like to ask her about, but over all her thesis holds well and it is a real challenge for us who would like to see the church as an alternative to the society at large.

[J. J.]

Wow. What a stunning accomplishment this book is… I'm deeply grateful to have been exposed to it. Far more than "Divided by Faith" or "Bloodlines" or other books written in this space, this author unmasks the unstudied assumptions that wrap white privilege in a cocoon of cluelessness. I have been guilty of most of the forms of thinking and acting driven by white privilege that the author identifies. But there's no going back—in a very good way—after having read this book. Thank you, Kori Edwards, for serving the Church so well with your labors!