House Negro or Field Negro
Racial Salience and Claims-Making in the United Methodist Church
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2755833 |
|---|---|
| Authors | O F Okuwobi (0000-0002-0888-9401, University of Cincinnati Cincinnati Ohio USA, corresponding author), D E Eagle (0000-0003-4909-9497, Duke Global Health Institute Duke University Durham North Carolina USA), Fatimah Salleh (The Center for Health Policy & Inequalities Research Duke University Durham North Carolina USA), C W Mueller (0000-0002-2381-8935, University of Maryland College Park Maryland USA) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 64 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 317-327 |
| Publication date | 2025-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0021-8294 • E-ISSN: 1468-5906 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/jssr.70002 |
| OpenAlex | W4413834698 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 56 |
Relational inequalities theory relies on categorical differences in status to explain why the claims of people of color may be discouraged or denied. However, this mechanism may be insufficient to explain intraracial inequalities in claims-making. In this study, we draw from 17 semistructured interviews with pastors of color in the United Methodist Church to examine how racial salience affects the success of claims to leadership positions, congregational acceptance, and ordination in an antiracist organization. We find that status differences created by racial categories do not always reduce the success of these pastors' claims. However, when pastors of color express high levels of racial salience, their claims to organizational resources are delegitimated and their presence in the denomination often becomes untenable. This study contributes to understandings of how race interacts with the claims-making process to generate inequalities, intraracial discrimination within organizations, and the limits of formal policies of antiracism
Criminology · Field (mathematics) · Salience (neuroscience) · Sociology · Gender Diversity and Inequality · Nonprofit Sector and Volunteering · Psychology · Work-Family Balance Challenges
Status Characteristics and Social Interaction
Estranged Pioneers
Represent and Destroy
Relational Inequalities
Antiracism
“Saved” by Interaction, Living by Race
The Elusive Dream
Black Feminist Thought
Durable Inequality
Racial Dynamics of Congregations and Communities
The Relational Generation of Workplace Inequalities
Redefining antiracism
The sociology of antiracism in Black and White
Racial Salience and the Consequences of Making White People Uncomfortable
Identical applicant but different outcomes
Walking the Tightrope
Acting White? Rethinking Race in Post-Racial America
From Antiracism to Antiracisms
Multidimensional Inventory of Black Identity
The role of racial identity in perceived racial discrimination
Maintaining Hierarchies in Predominantly White Organizations
A Relational Theory of Earnings Inequality
The Relational Foundations of Inequality at Work I
Status Characteristics, Implicit Bias, and the Production of Racial Inequality
A Theory of Racialized Organizations
Inside the Black Box of Organizational Life
The Nonperformativity of Antiracism
The White-Centering Logic of Diversity Ideology
Consensus and the Creation of Status Beliefs
House Negro or Field Negro
We Want Black Students, Just Not You
Inequality Regimes
Inequality without Groups
The New Principle-policy Gap
Racial Ideology and Racial Centrality as Predictors of African American College Students' Academic Performance
The Gender System and Interaction
Fear of a Black Pulpit? Real Racial Transcendence Versus Cultural Assimilation in Multiracial Churches
What Group?' Studying Whites and Whiteness in the Era of 'Color-Blindness
Racial Reconciliation as a Suppressive Frame in Evangelical Multiracial Churches
Everything that I've Done Has Always Been Multiethnic
Deconstructing a Research Journey
Racial Justice and Racialized Religion
Emotions and Ambient Racism in America's Whitest Big City
Reproducing Inequality in a Formally Antiracist Organization
Gender, Race, and Meritocracy in Organizational Careers
The Intersectional Fifth Black Woman
Color Capital, White Debt, and the Paradox of Strong White Racial Identities
Relational trustworthiness
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |