"The work for racial justice in the U.S. in the decades after the high-water mark of the Civil Rights movement is a significant yet too often neglected chapter of American religious history- a chapter overshadowed to a great extent by the Religious Right, which has gotten much more scholarly attention. For decades, little known faith leaders across the U.S. did what they could to create fair and affordable housing, contribute to community development, advocate for affirmative action, protest racial profiling, and mobilize voter registration. Many of these leaders were affiliated with mainstream majority-White Protestant denominations, Black denominations, Roman Catholic groups, and Jewish organizations. Many of the Protestants were African Methodist Episcopal, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, or United Church of Christ.

Some were Brethren, Disciples of Christ, Mennonites, Moravians, or Quakers. The leaders often formed coalitions of faith-based and nonsectarian organizations. The focus of Wuthnows new book will be on local, unsung struggles for racial justice-- happening in response to local events, led by local clergy, and drawing on local networks. This was advocacy work that wasnt covered by national or international news media, and the achievements of these struggles were often small (rather than sweeping and dramatic). These struggles will be covered in a series of thematic chapters; one chapter on concerted action by faith groups & leaders in particular U.S. communities for fair, affordable, desegregated housing; another chapter on affirmative action and busing; a third on efforts to advocate for policy reform and for the end of racial profiling, etc. Wuthnow will discuss the systematic racism that these racial justice advocates confronted -- racism thats thoroughly ingrained in institutional structures, and that has proven to be impervious to strategies that involve personal approaches to sensitizing hearts and minds to the evils of racism.

Wuthnow argues that this historical record provides lessons for contemporary racial justice warriors working either within or outside of faith communities. Progressive religious groups have been most effective in supporting civil rights efforts whey theyre focused on very specific tasks -- e.g. voting rights, gerrymandering, discrimination in hiring, inequality on the job, and lack of access to equal opportunity in education -- and when they organize strategically, form coalitions, use the right kinds of knowledge and expertise, and adapt to new situations"--"The communities, congregations, and faith-based coalitions that have been working for racial justice over the past fifty years.Have progressive religious organizations been missing in action in recent struggles for racial justice? In Faith Communities and the Fight for Racial Justice, Robert Wuthnow shows that, contrary to activists accusations of complacency, Black and White faith leaders have fought steadily for racial and social justice since the end of the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Wuthnow introduces us to the communities, congregations, and faith-based coalitions that have worked on fair housing, school desegregation, affirmative action, criminal justice, and other issues over many years. Often overshadowed by the Religious Right, these progressive faith-based racial justice advocates kept up the fight even as media attention shifted elsewhere.Wuthnow tells the stories of the faith-based affordable housing project in St.

Louis that sparked controversy in the Nixon White House; a pastors lawsuit in North Carolina that launched the nations first busing program for school desegregation; the faith outreach initiative for Barack Obamas presidential campaign; and church-mobilized protests following the deaths of Trayvon Martin, Freddie Gray, and George Floyd. Drawing on extensive materials on denominations, journalists, and social scientists, Wuthnow offers a detailed and frank discussion of both the achievements and the limitations of faith leaders roles. He focuses on different issues that emerged at different times, tracing the efforts of Black and White faith leaders who sometimes worked cooperatively and more often tackled problems in complementary ways. Taken together, these stories provide lessons in what faith communities have done and how they can better advocate for racial justice in the years ahead"--.