Religion Through A Racial Lens: The Effect of Race on Religious Interpretation

Abstract

Recently, the Republican Party has attempted to attract the Black vote by appealing to religious values. Blacks, being highly religious, would appear to be a receptive group for such a strategy. However, this appeal has been unsuccessful. This failure goes beyond the political sphere, as the Religious Right has also tried but failed to bring Blacks into their fold (Calhoun-Brown 1998). Why do these appeals seem to fall on deaf ears in the Black community even though the basic moral and family values message would seem so consistent with the group’s core commitments? One explanation seems obvious: the Black community rejects religious appeals from the Right either because they do not believe they are sincere, or because their nonreligious political interests override their religious commitment. There is, however, another possible explanation, and it is one I hope to explore in this chapter.