Racial segregation of churches in the United States
[1] Racially segregated churches have existed within the United States since before it became a country, and they lasted through the post-slavery era and well into the modern age.
[2][3] There are many reasons for the history and the continued prevalence of racial segregation in U.S. churches, including widespread and systemic racism as well as geographic and denominational differences across branches of various religions.
[4] In addition to the segregation of black people, the spread of Christianity in the Northern States also affected Native Americans in seventeenth-century New England, referred to as Praying Indians.
[9] Ministers like John Eliot defended this technique by stating that Native Americans should adopt the mannerisms and customs of English people before earning the privilege of becoming Christian.
[9] One of Eliot's most successful towns was Natick, Massachusetts, where the missionary considered the Native Americans' rapid conversion to be a transformational change in favor of civilization.
[9] These towns were so effective that by 1675, almost one-fourth of the Native Americans had converted to Christianity, though contrary to popular belief, some opted to do so at their own will.
[10] According to James F. Cooper Jr., Associate Professor of History at Oklahoma State University, the Puritans believed that their success in New England depended on "their ability to establish and maintain this scripturally based system of worship".
[13] Another prominent reason which was used to justify slavery was the belief that Christians should focus on evangelism, stay out of politics, and follow the law.
[1] However, many historians have said that religion was an important motivator for people to be in favor of civil rights, because they believed that racism was sinful or unchristian.
Since black men of African descent could not receive the priesthood, they were excluded from holding leadership roles and performing these rituals.
Joseph Smith, who is considered a prophet in the LDS Church, supported segregation, stating, "I would confine them [black people] by strict law to their own species".
[24]: 1843 Other LDS Church leaders, such as David O. McKay, J. Reuben Clark, Henry D. Moyle, Ezra Taft Benson, Joseph Fielding Smith, Harold B. Lee, and Mark E. Petersen were leading proponents of segregation.
[25]: 67 The First Presidency under George Albert Smith sent a letter on May 5, 1947, stating that "social intercourse between the Whites and the Negroes should certainly not be encouraged because of leading to intermarriage, which the Lord has forbidden.
[39] Calvinists believe in the sole authority of the Bible, of Christ alone, and in faith and morals, and object to the Catholic Church through their "five solae", or five core theological beliefs.
[46] Robert Graetz, a white pastor of a majority African American Lutheran Church during the Civil Rights Movement, was particularly involved.
[3] The early 20th century Evangelist Maria Woodworth-Etter warned Southern Congregations that she would not preach in segregated services when she visited them.
[49] Another important charismatic figure was Charles Finney, who ran popular church revivals and preached abolitionist views as he toured the South.
[51] Baptists came to the Southern United States to preach the gospel to white people and African Americans during the Revolutionary War.
After the Civil War, African Americans started their own churches, an idea that was supported by both white and black southerners.
[36] According to the Pew Research Center, the National Baptist Convention is currently considered the least racially diverse church in America, with 99% of its members being black.
John Wesley was invested in the abolition of slavery, and he visited Georgia to proselytize to slaves who appreciated his "plain doctrine and good discipline."
According to the Pew Research Center, "nothing in particular" denominations are relatively diverse, with 64% of their members being white, 12% being black, 15% being Latino, 5% being Asian, and 5% being mixed or other.
[60] Harrell states that other southern evangelicals were extremely focused on spreading Christianity to others, including "cleansing society as well as saving individual souls.
[58][63] This is the highest percentage of conservatives in any branch of religion included in the study, which consisted of Christian, non-Christian, and other unaffiliated groups.
[3] In 1984 American bishops disseminated a letter calling for even further inclusion of racial and ethnic minorities into Catholic churches.
[66] According to Williams, "people of Black African descent constitute approximately one-fourth, or 300 million, of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.".
have said that primarily black churches were integral to the civil rights movement and they also served as popular gathering places because information about boycotts and the ideas of activists were frequently dispensed from them.
[71] During the George Floyd protests in June 2020, Pope Francis spoke out against what he described as ongoing racism in the United States.
[78] In fact, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, white supremacists were behind 67 percent of the 61 attacks that took place in the United States during the first eight months of 2020.
According to the 2012 National Congregations Study, the Pew Research Center found that almost all churchgoers attend services where the vast majority of individuals fall into one racial or ethnic group.
