“This study of Black and Asian American churches in a primarily Latinx neighborhood explores the relationship between neighborhood transitions and the agency of racial groups, and explains how people use churches to engage race and class boundaries within globalizing neighborhoods. ”
When immigration changes a neighborhood’s demography, its churches must adapt. But not all churches interact with neighborhood transitions in the same way. Some churches become multiracial while others fulfill a racial or ethnic niche, which can produce racial tribalism and conflict. Why do urban churches fail to diversify? How are these churches using social capital, organizational partnerships, and landed property to affect race relations inside and outside of their religious spaces? And what could this case teach us about the relationship between civil society and the neighborhood transitions caused by racial capitalism? This study of Black and Asian American churches in a primarily Latinx neighborhood explores the relationship between neighborhood transitions and the agency of racial groups, and explains how people use churches to engage race and class boundaries within globalizing neighborhoods.