The Suburban Church and Racism: Is Change Possible?

Abstract

sample of members before and after the Project. Using t-tests to evaluate the difference of means, we found significant changes in racial attitudes in the anticipated direction in the post-test as compared with the pre-test. When those reporting involvement in the Project were compared with those not involved, there was more change in the attitudes of the non-involved than the involved. However, the involved were significantly less racist in attitudes before and after the Project than the non-involved, leading to speculation about a ceiling effect. Other characteristics of the two groups were compared. Those involved had characteristics that may have predisposed them to participate. A brief summary of other Project findings also is included. A critical issue facing urban areas in the United States is the relationship between core cities and their suburbs. All too frequently, suburbs provide safe havens for the predominantly white middle and upper-middle class who make use of services and earn their incomes in the core cities but assume little responsibility for the quality of life of core-city dwellers-overwhelmingly minority poor-who cannot afford the high cost of suburban living (Downs, 1973). Critics of the suburbs have been numerous, and suburban churches have come in for a heavy share of this criticism. In a growing number of cities, increasing numbers of middle and upper-middle class whites are displacing poor blacks and other minority persons as they purchase and renovate houses in core-city neighborhoods. As these population shifts continue, with racial minorities choosing to move and being displaced toward suburban areas, the questions of how suburban congregations address the problem of white racism is likely to emerge with increasing frequency and intensity. It is not our purpose to review the criticism of suburban congregations, but rather to report on some aspects of an action research project that was aimed at enabling predominantly white suburban congregations to address the critical issue of white racism in these ever more complex relationships between core-cities' suburbs.