Therapeutic Multiracialism: The Beneficial Effects of Multiracial Communities for White Christians

• In Event: 2352 - Racialization and Colorblindness: Intersection of Institutions and Identities

Abstract

This paper analyzes the reasons why White Christians choose to be part of multiracial congregations and communities. Most research has shown that multiracial spaces tend to cater to white people even when whites are the minority. This paper argues that the reproduction of this white hegemony is inevitable because the majority of white people in these spaces are there for a utilitarian end. American Christianity took a therapeutic turn in the 20th century. Today, the primary reason for religious gatherings is to feel good about themselves. As White Christians throughout America experience what sociologist Matthew Hughey (2012) calls “White Debt”(the understanding of Whiteness as dull, empty, lacking and complete), multiracial communities offer these white Christians a way to distinguish themselves from other whites. They alleviate their “White Debt” with what Hughey calls “Color Capital” (the appropriation of objects, discourses, and people coded as non-White). In this way, multiracial relationships add to their spiritual capital because they believe they are practicing a superior form of Christianity. Despite well-intention reasons that include the desire to bridge racial divides these White Christians continue to legitimate and reproduce white hegemony. This paper is based on 47 interviews with White Christians in multiracial communities in cities that have experienced racial tension as a result of police killings of unarmed black men and boys.

Author

• Tony Lin, Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture