Transmitting Racism Through Religion? Racial Ideology and Racism Among Members and Leaders of Latina/o Multiracial Congregations

• In Event: 2329 - Section on the Sociology of Religion Referred Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: 9. Religion, Race, and Immigration

Abstract

In this paper, I address the dynamics of intergenerational transmission of religion with an emphasis on racial ideology and racism in a Latina/o Protestant Congregation in Central and South Florida. More specifically, I examine how racial ideologies impact first generation’s perception of discrimination, and how these perceptions may influence U.S. born Brazilians through family and peer socialization, and ultimately, how racial ideologies influence second generation’s multiethnic congregation. Drawing on 12 months of participant observation in Central and South Florida, 51 in-depth interviews with first and second-generation Brazilians as well as non-Brazilians of different ethnoracial backgrounds, and content analysis of various social media activities. I argue that the processes of intergenerational religious transmission in Latina/o congregations must account for the different racial ideologies that have fostered national narratives of ethnoracial relations, racial mixing, whitening, and colorism in different Latin American countries (i.e., mestizaje ideologies in various forms). Findings show that racial-democracy ideology affects first generation Brazilians perception of racism. Furthermore, this perception rooted in Brazilian race relations is passed along to the second-generation through church leaders.

Author

• Rodrigo Serrao Santana de Jesus, University of South Florida