Religion and Reconciliation Religious Racial Reconciliation After Events of Black/White Tension

Abstract

Race and religion have been significant determinants of the life options for Black and white people in America for hundreds of years, yet claims of a post-racial society may not be readily justified. For example, high-profile police-involved shootings of Black men, such as in the case of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge in the summer of 2016, George Floyd in 2020, and other racially generated events, may serve to resurrect the seemingly lingering prominence of this matter. Racial reconciliation is defined as the creation of the beloved community to which Dr. King and others referred, which embraces and values racial differences that seem to divide humanity by engaging in robust interracial togetherness toward the realization of a racially transformed church and community. While there is a great deal of literature about racial reconciliation, many writings are limited conceptually and empirically. To that end, we collected data from individuals involved in religious racial reconciliation efforts in 2020 to address the following research questions: To what extent do religious racial reconciliation efforts increase in the wake of high-profile racialized events? What are the experiences like for African American Christians who take part in religious racial reconciliation? What factors create opportunities for success? Are there barriers that may never be overcome?