Religion Is Raced: Understanding American Religion in the Twenty-First Century

Published by New York University Press 2020

Religion Is Raced

Understanding American Religion in the Twenty-First Century

Edited by: Grace Yukich and Penny Edgell

https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9781479838271.001.0001

Overview
Contents

About this book

Demonstrates how race and power help to explain American religion in the twenty-first century

When White people of faith act in a particular way, their motivations are almost always attributed to their religious orientation. Yet when religious people of color act in a particular way, their motivations are usually attributed to their racial positioning.

Religion Is Raced makes the case that religion in America has generally been understood in ways that center White Christian experiences of religion, and argues that all religion must be acknowledged as a raced phenomenon. When we overlook the role race plays in religious belief and action, and how religion in turn spurs public and political action, we lose sight of a key way in which race influences religiously-based claims-making in the public sphere.

With contributions exploring a variety of religious traditions, from Buddhism and Islam to Judaism and Protestantism, as well as pieces on atheists and humanists, Religion Is Raced brings discussions about the racialized nature of religion from the margins of scholarly and religious debate to the center. The volume offers a new model for thinking about religion that emphasizes how racial dynamics interact with religious identity, and how we can in turn better understand the roles religion—and Whiteness—play in politics and public life, especially in the United States. It includes clear recommendations for researchers, including pollsters, on how to better recognize moving forward that religion is a raced phenomenon.

With contributions by Joseph O. Baker, Kelsy Burke, James Clark Davidson, Janine Giordano Drake, Ashley Garner, Edward Orozco Flores, Sikivu Hutchinson, Sarah Imhoff, Russell Jeung, John Jimenez, Jaime Kucinskas, Eric Mar, Gerardo Martí, Omar M. McRoberts, Besheer Mohamed, Dawne Moon, Jerry Z. Park, Z. Fareen Parvez, Theresa W. Tobin, and Rhys H. Williams.

Author / Editor information

Yukich Grace :

Grace Yukich is Associate Professor of Sociology at Quinnipiac University and author of One Family Under God: Immigration Politics and Progressive Religion in America. Edgell Penny :

Penny Edgell is Professor of Sociology at the University of Minnesota and author or (co)editor of Religion is Raced: Understanding American Religion in the 21st Century (NYU Press, 2020), Religion and Family in a Changing Society (Princeton, 2006), and Congregations in Conflict (Cambridge, 1999).

Grace Yukich is Associate Professor of Sociology at Quinnipiac University and author of One Family Under God: Immigration Politics and Progressive Religion in America.

Penny Edgell is Professor of Sociology at the University of Minnesota and author of Congregations in Conflict and Religion and Family in a Changing Society.

Reviews

Vincent J. Roscigno, Ohio State University:
An incredibly rich, important and timely book. Yukich and Edgell, along with their powerhouse group of contributing authors, highlight crucial racial underpinnings and underlying organizing principals of contemporary religion and the consequences for social divisions, politics and identities. This book is a cornerstone, one that will shape scholarly work and public conversations for generations.

Michèle Lamont, Harvard University:
An important collective endeavor that will leave its mark as an essential resource for understanding contemporary American religion. Yukich and Edgell bring together several of the best scholars in the sociology of religion in order to shed new light on neglected racial (but also religious, ethnic and gendered) aspects of religion as it is lived in the United States today. This is a crucial and overdue corrective and a significant achievement.

Paul Harvey, author of Christianity and Race in the American South: A History:
Challenges the unspoken narrative of whiteness that has shaped studies of US religion. Writing from various disciplinary perspectives, the authors collectively chart a more productive way forward, one that begins with very different (and more empirically accurate) assumptions. A state-of-the-art work and a shot across the bow.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Introduction: Recognizing Raced Religion Grace Yukich and Penny Edgell Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Part I: Raced Religion and US Politics
1. White Christian Libertarianism and the Trump Presidency Gerardo Martí Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	19
2. Civil Religion and Black Church Political Mobilization Omar M. McRoberts Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	40
3. Intersectional Politics among Atheists and Humanists of Color Sikivu Hutchinson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	58
4. Assuming Whiteness in Twentieth- Century American Religion Rhys H. Williams Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	74
Part II: Raced Religion and Gender and Sexualities
5. Race, Religion, and Jewish Sexuality in an Age of Immigration Sarah Imhoff Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	95
6. Race and the Religious Possibilities for Sexuality in Conservative Protestantism Kelsy Burke, Dawne Moon and Theresa W. Tobin Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	114
7. Gender and the Racialization of Muslims Ashley Garner and Z. Fareen Parvez Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	134
Part III: Raced Religion and Social Class
8. Race, Class, and the Color- Blind Social Gospel Movement Janine Giordano Drake Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	159
9. Racial and Class Gaps in Buddhist- Inspired Organizing Jaime Kucinskas Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	178
Part IV: Raced Religion and Immigration
10. The Religious and Racial Minoritization of Asian American Voters Russell Jeung, John Jimenez and Eric Mar Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	201
11. Religion, Race, and Immigration in Community Organizing among the Formerly Incarcerated Part V: Measuring Raced Religion Edward Orozco Flores Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	227
Part V: Measuring Raced Religion
12. Decentering Whiteness in Survey Research on American Religion Jerry Z. Park and James Clark Davidson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	251
13. Beyond Black and White in Measuring Racial Identity among US Muslims Besheer Mohamed Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	275
14. Race, Gender, and Avowing (or Avoiding) the Stigma of Atheism Joseph O. Baker Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	293
Conclusion: Centering Race in the Study of American Religion and Nonreligion Penny Edgell and Grace Yukich Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	313
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	323
About the Contributors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	327
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	333