By Oneya Okuwobi

It was 20 years ago that a book called Divided by Faith set the agenda for a significant part of my life.  The key finding of the book is that segregated churches created disparate racial attitudes and outlooks among Black and white Christians.  The authors, Michael Emerson and Christian Smith, hypothesized that Christians coming together across racial groups would create more accurate understandings of racial inequality that could help to combat it.  I immediately latched on to the message of bringing people together, creating curriculum, speaking at churches and conferences, and arranging my own life and relationships in such a way that this would become true.

Church leaders and denominations, particularly among Conservative Protestants, eagerly embraced churches of all nations. Networks were born and conferences held to direct the creation of multiethnic/multiracial/racially diverse churches.  Through this emphasis, and the demographic change of neighborhoods surrounding churches, these efforts bore tremendous fruit.  The number of Conservative Protestant churches with fewer than 80% of congregants from the same racial group rose dramatically from 7% to over 20%.  Change came faster than anyone could have imagined in terms of the shifting demographic reality of multiracial churches.  But the other promised changes–alterations in racial attitudes to recognize systemic inequality, working together to eliminate racial inequities, and stronger social networks helping equalize the distribution of resources–were nowhere to be found.

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