
The Elusive Dream
The Power of Race in Interracial Churches
Korie L. Edwards(Author)
Oxford University Press Inc
Published on 28. August 2008
Book
Hardback
240 pages
978-0-19-531424-3 (ISBN)
Description
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 churches: 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.
In The Elusive Dream, Korie L. Edwards presents the surprising results of an in-depth study of interracial churches: 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.
Reviews / Votes
The Elusive Dream continues an important line of research on multi-racial religious congregations in the U.S., skillfully revealing the insidious persistence of skewed power relations operating among people with even the best of intentions about race relations... A sobering and important book. * Christian Smith, author of Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers * Korie Edwards shows in this riveting book [that]... race matters in the U.S...Through spell-binding accounts of the people of an interracial congregation and through her study of churches around the country, her evidence forces us...to see the powerful influence whites have on interracial churches. We may wish it were not so, but it is a reality that must be faced. The _ Elusive Dream is a watershed book, social analysis at its best * Michael O. Emerson, co-author of Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
529 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-531424-3 (9780195314243)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Book
11/2021
Oxford University Press Inc
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Shipment within 15-20 days

E-Book
08/2008
OUP eBook
€14.49
Available for download

E-Book
08/2008
OUP eBook
€14.49
Available for download
Person
Korie L. Edwards is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Ohio State University, and is the co-author of Against All Odds: The Struggle for Racial Integration in Religious Organizations.
Author
Assistant Professor, Department of SociologyAssistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Ohio State University
Content
Preface ; Introduction ; Chapter 1: Decently and In Order: Congregational Worship ; Chapter 2: Bring Race to the Center: Extra-religious Activities ; Chapter 3: Spiritual Affirmative Action: Leadership Structure and Characteristics ; Chapter 4: Why Do They Come? ; Chapter 5: Racial Identity: Material for Cross-racial Bridging? ; Chapter 6: Reproducing White Hegemony ; Conclusion: Dream or Delusion ; Appendix A: Research Methods ; Appendix B: Tables ; Appendix C: Interview Guides