Michael Emerson

1. Why We Need
the Multiracial, Multiethnic, Multicultural
Church

2. 2
Racialized
Society Race matters profoundly for differences
in life EXPERIENCES, life
OPPORTUNITIES, and social
RELATIONSHIPS.
 Allocates rewards UNEQUALLY by race.

3. US is racialized in at least the following areas
(1) health (2) death (3) employment
(4) marriage (5) occupation (6) life expectancy
(7) crime (8) persnl & social identity (9) advertising
(10) names (11) education (12) neighborhoods
(13) auto loan rates (14) SES & spatial mobility (15) consumerism
(16) respect (17) expectations (18) music
(19) religion (20) cost of products (21) mortgage rates
(22) history (23) TV watching (24) wealth
(25) property values (26) politics (27) entrepreneurship
(28) access to hi-qual affdble products (29) self-esteem (30) product mark-up prices
(31) env polltion, haz waste (32) social networks (33) school lunch tables
(34) comfortable access to places around the nation
3

4. Distribution of Urban Poor
by Neighborhood Poverty Rate
4

5. Wealth Differences by Race, 1988
White Median Net
Worth
Black Median Net
Worth
Overall $43,800 3,700
Upper White-Collar
Occupation Only
$66,800 12,303
Upper White Collar
Occupation &
Parents’ Upper
White Collar
$70,850 17,499
College Graduate $74,922 17,437
5
NET WORTH = Assets – Debts
NET FINANCIAL ASSETS = NET WORTH – Housing and Vehicle Assets
Source: Oliver and Shapiro (1995), Tables 4.4, 5.1, 5.7, and 6.6

6. Wealth Differences 2002
• Black Median Net Worth $6,000
• Hispanic Median Net Worth $8,000
• White Median Net Worth $90,000
• White/Hispanic Ratio 11.25 (10.0
1988)
• White/Black Ratio 15.00 (11.8 1988)
6
SOURCE: http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?
article=race_wealth_and_intergenerational_pov
erty

7. Wealth Differences Over Time
• Followed same 2000 black and white
families from 1983 to 2007,
examining changes in the racial
wealth gap.
• Found a 4 fold-increase in the gap
over this time.
7

8. 8
Source: Thomas Shapiro et al. May 2010. The Racial Wealth Gap Increases Fourfold.
Institute on Assets and Social Policy, Research and Policy Brief. Brandeis University.

9. RACE IN THE U.S.
More of Society’s
Rewards
Less of Society’s
Rewards
WHITES
BLACKS
Foreign American
ASIANS
HISPANICS
N
ATIVE
AM
ER
IC
AN
S

10. US is racialized in at least the following areas
(1) health (2) death (3) employment
(4) marriage (5) occupation (6) life expectancy
(7) crime (8) persnl & social identity (9) advertising
(10) names (11) education (12) neighborhoods
(13) auto loan rates (14) SES & spatial mobility (15) consumerism
(16) respect (17) expectations (18) music
(19) religion (20) cost of products (21) mortgage rates
(22) history (23) TV watching (24) wealth
(25) property values (26) politics (27) entrepreneurship
(28) access to hi-qual affdble products (29) self-esteem (30) product mark-up prices
(31) env polltion, haz waste (32) social networks (33) school lunch tables
(34) comfortable access to places around the nation
10

11. 11
Racial Comp of Am. Congregations

12. Racially Mixed Churches & Mosques
12
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

13. How Segregated is the U.S. Church?
Churches are
10 times more segregated
than the neighborhoods they sit in.
And they are
20 times more segregated
than public schools.
Here is what Martin Luther King’s mentor, Dr. Benjamin May’s,
who was a pastor, president of Morehouse College, and author,
had to say in his autobiography, published shortly before his
death in the 1960s:

14. MLK mentor, Benjamin Mays
• "I hold, nevertheless, that my overall
critique of the local church is accurate,
and that it will be a sad commentary on
our life and times if a historian writing in
the year 2000 can still truthfully say that
the most segregated institution in the
United States is the 'Church of the Living
God.'"
• (page 264 of his book, Born to Rebel: An Autobiography.)
14

15. What Should
Be

16. Jesus’ Prayer for FutureJesus’ Prayer for Future
BelieversBelievers John 17:20-23John 17:20-23
“My prayer is not for them [the
disciples] alone. I pray also for those
who will believe in me through their
message [us today]
that all of them may be ONE
Father, just as you are in me and I am
in you. May they also be in us so that
the world may believe you sent me . . .
May they be brought to complete unity
to let the world know you sent me . . .”

17. We are to work for
Unity and
Justice.
And our churches
Houses of Prayer
for All nations.

18. What Can
Be

19. 19
A. Social Ties Benefits

20. 20
Circle of Friends: Percent Reporting Most or All
the Same Race
Same R No Cong Interracial n
ALL 83 70 36 2550
White 87 78 44 1615
Black 70 46 46 296
Latino 73 50 33 304
Asian 58 36 15 209
All Differences significant at .05 level, one-tailed, using both ANOVA and chi-square
tests. Exception: Blacks not in congregations and Blacks in Interracial congregations.

21. 21
A. Social Ties
B. Organizational Home for
Multiracial families and people
C. Group Formation
and Solidarity
Benefits

22. 22

23. 23

24. 24

25. 25

26. 26

27. 27

28. 28

29. 29
A. Social Ties
B. Organizational Home for
Multiracial families and people
C. Group Formation
and Solidarity
D. Altered Racial
Attitudes
E. Reduced Inequalities—economic, social,
spiritual
Benefits
E. Growing Churches,
New Christians

30. How to become Multiracial
1. Attempt to attract people of different
backgrounds.
2. Member exchange
3. Merge two or more different race
congregations
4. Begin a new congregation
5. Leave own church and go to one filled
with people of a different race

31. Why We Need
the Multiracial, Multiethnic, Multicultural
Church