Talk:Racial segregation of churches in the United States

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment

This article is or was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Kmwebber.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 02:57, 18 January 2022 (UTC)

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 24 August 2020 and 4 December 2020. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Kef1170, MichelleGachelin. Peer reviewers: Jkolli.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 02:57, 18 January 2022 (UTC)

Intro

Hello, I am the creator of this page, I know that it is no where NEAR complete, but I feel confident that it is now ready to be moved in the main space. If you have any comments, concerns, or tips, please feel free to write me here or on my talk page. Thank you all. Kmwebber (talk) 20:31, 3 March 2017 (UTC)Kmwebber

Peer review

This is an incredibly comprehensive, well-researched start to an article—great work! I think the organization of the article is a real strength; the article flows well from section to section. Your article could be improved even more in the next round of edits by adding relevant images and potentially touching on the experiences of other races in segregated churches. All in all, excellent job! Cpm5 (talk) 21:18, 4 March 2017 (UTC)

Peer review 2

This article is very well-written, maintains neutrality throughout, and draws from a variety of scholarly sources (and puts them into context where appropriate). The article presents the various sections in a logical and well-organized way, making it very readable and easy to follow. The article can be further improved by expanding the lead section to elucidate important aspects of the issue and creating a smoother transition into the body. In addition, the article can discuss the relationship between segregation/racism and community building (are these two effects interrelated?). Overall, great work! Sraman195 (talk) 21:13, 27 March 2017 (UTC)

Early New England churches

This page has a plethora of great information, but suffers from an important omission: in colonial New England, including the then wilderness of Vermont, churches often admitted people of color to full membership, including baptism and marriage. People of color most often had to sit in specified places - in the back or galleries - like women and children. There were even a handful of Native American and African American pastors. Not many, but then New England was a small place with few people still. It wasn't until the early nineteenth century that this changed and New England churches became segregated, as state and federal law enshrined slavery and institutionalized racism and political and social lines hardened. I don't have time to research this right now, but I have been writing a book on Lemuel Haynes and have been intently focused on this period. Reverend Haynes was the pastor of the West Rutland Church for thirty years, son of a slave, much beloved by his congregation and state. He was only forced out in 1818 as pro-slavery pressure rose in post-war America and his congregation became increasingly 'embarrassed' to have him as pastor. NEHGS is probably a good source on this, and there are a number of scholarly books on the subject.

UPDATE: Here is one source: “African American Churches of Beacon Hill,” Boston African American Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service, updated: February 26, 2015, accessed 7 April 2018).

Sblanchard56 (talk) 05:50, 7 April 2018 (UTC)

Didn't many New England churches require most of the attenders to sit in designated pews which they had to rent? (PeacePeace (talk) 16:43, 21 September 2018 (UTC))

References

NPOV Revision Needed; POV appears to be influenced by Black-Racism

Article has a section on Racism. For example, we read:

"A 1999 study showed that among churchgoers, those who go to segregated or primarily white churches are more likely to exhibit racist behaviors or to have prejudiced ideas about African Americans."

The paragraph is a violation of NPOV as it attacks white church segregation and does not address black church segregation. If an editor has evidence that white racism is promoted by segregated churches, complementary evidence that black church segregation promotes black-racism, is in order. (PeacePeace (talk) 16:35, 21 September 2018 (UTC)

Improve Article by adding section non-segregated churches

I would like to see a section on non-segregated churches, a list of integrated churches with some observations on what correlates with non-segregation. BTW, I think this article seems to confuse correlation with causation. For example, if racists go to church, it is very likely to be a racially exclusive church. That does not prove that the fact that a church is segregated caused those persons to be racist. (PeacePeace (talk) 16:41, 21 September 2018 (UTC))

Substantially Improving This Article

Hi! My friend Kate and I will be improving and expanding upon this article in the interest of providing viewers with more thorough information on this topic. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us with any questions or suggestions. Also, feel free to check out our User Pages for more information about us, what we’ll be changing, and some references we plan to use in the process. Michelle Gachelin (talk) 01:57, 11 September 2020 (UTC)

Improvements to this page

I am working with my friend Michelle to improve the structure and content of this page to hopefully advance it to good article status. -Kef1170 (talk) 19:37, 20 September 2020 (UTC)

Proposed Changes to This Article (Outline)

Hello! I recently added a detailed outline of how we are planning to substantially revise this article. Please head to the sandbox linked on my User Page to view it! We'll be eliminating a substantial amount of sections containing information that we feel belongs best in other areas. We'll also be adding sections on information that wasn't covered in sufficient detail. Please let us know if you would like to add any input or have questions about our planned revisions. Thanks! Michelle Gachelin (talk) 03:33, 30 September 2020 (UTC)

Here is the link to my sandbox where you can view our outline: Sandbox Michelle Gachelin (talk) 03:35, 30 September 2020 (UTC)

Proposed Edit Outline

I am still planning to work on this article with Michelle, and I have also uploaded an outline of our proposed edits to my user page sandbox. Please feel free to read it and provide any feedback you may have! Kef1170 (talk) 03:38, 30 September 2020 (UTC)

Continued Edits- Feedback Welcome

Hi all! My friend Michelle and I have continued editing this article. I just published changes to the Catholicism portion of the article, and would appreciate any feedback you all have. If you would like to see more information on our proposed edits check out my user page! Kef1170 (talk) 02:28, 9 October 2020 (UTC)

Additional Revisions

Hi! I just published revisions to the Pre-Civil War section, dividing it into Northern States and Southern States. I also added a section on Praying Indians. Please let me know if you have any feedback! Michelle Gachelin (talk) 03:41, 9 October 2020 (UTC)

Black Catholic statistics

Those statistics are horrible. There are three different types in isolation. There is no basis for comparison, no discussion of trends, no per capita adjustment. They are essentially meaningless. Elizium23 (talk) 22:27, 13 October 2020 (UTC)

Hi! Thank you so much for your feedback. If you don't mind, would you explain your concerns a little bit more? I do believe that I touched on the trend of the expansion of black membership in the church. I am also planning to add the pew research statistics under other denominations which would allow for comparison! Thanks! Kef1170 (talk) 19:37, 15 October 2020 (UTC)

Peer Review 2020

The article provides a broad yet comprehensive look at racial segregation of churches in the US. I think that the 21st century section and Implications section are particularly well done. In terms of changes, I think that more denomination-specific sources in the Variations among denominations section and more recent/quantitative statistics of the number of people represented by each denomination would contribute to the quality of the article. Great job! Jkolli (talk) 02:19, 29 October 2020 (UTC)

Peer Review on new edits

Kate, Great Job! The content you added to the article provides a more complete view of the topic of Racial Segregation in churches. The inclusion of different denominations and the variations between them provide more accurate depictions of religious racial segregation. Again, I would just suggest working on homogenizing your topic sentences to make your intended points clearer in the denomination section. I also suggest adding more information beyond statistics, specifically in the Jim Crow and Protestant sections.

Overall, very quality work! Melired (talk) 02:22, 29 October 2020 (UTC)

Peer review

This article does a great job of providing organized statistics, demographics, and information regarding both historical and present topics relating to Racial segregation of churches in the US. I would suggest citing the authors of your statistics more, so we know that the numbers are fact-checked, and adding a short description on Black Hebrew Israelites to match the short descriptions of the other topics in the same section. Kezchow (talk) 03:02, 29 October 2020 (UTC)

Article review

Nice work guys, this article has definitely improved. I think the denominations section is robust, but perhaps could use an expansion on more non-traditional sects such as Unitarianism or expansion on the Black Hebrew Israelites group there just to make sure all perspectives are covered. Additionally, I think it would help to group sects with similar theological relationships closer together. I think you guys nailed the writing POV and sentence structure, though, well done! —UnoDosTrey (talk) 17:06, 29 October 2020 (UTC)

Violence against churches

The section on violence against segregated churches is beginning to grow and veer off-topic. This article is about racial segregation, and there are plenty on violent church attacks. I think we will need to establish a strong and direct link between a church's current segregation and the motivations and effects of the attack. I do not think it is helpful to include every tragedy at "historically black" churches that are in fact racially integrated, especially when the motivation was anti-Christian or similar. Elizium23 (talk) 02:24, 7 November 2020 (UTC)

Hi! Thanks for your feedback. I just added more statistics to that section relating to those topics, and I clarified how these shootings, which were clearly racially motivated, had long-lasting impacts on ongoing racial tensions. I also added more information on multiracial churches under the "Acknowledging racial divides" section. Please let us know of any further feedback. Cheers! Michelle Gachelin (talk) 04:54, 7 November 2020 (UTC)

GA Review

This review is transcluded from Talk:Racial segregation of churches in the United States/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Reviewer: Z1720 (talk · contribs) 00:57, 6 March 2021 (UTC)

Hi, I will be reviewing this GAN in the coming days. If you respond here, please ping me so I know to check this page. Thanks! Z1720 (talk) 00:57, 6 March 2021 (UTC)

GA review (see here for what the criteria are, and here for what they are not)

1. It is reasonably well written.

   a (prose, spelling, and grammar): b (MoS for lead, layout, word choice, fiction, and lists):

2. It is factually accurate and verifiable.

   a (reference section): b (citations to reliable sources): c (OR): d (copyvio and plagiarism):

3. It is broad in its coverage.

   a (major aspects): b (focused):

4. It follows the neutral point of view policy.

   Fair representation without bias:

5. It is stable.

   No edit wars, etc.:

6. It is illustrated by images and other media, where possible and appropriate.

   a (images are tagged and non-free content have fair use rationales): b (appropriate use with suitable captions):

7. Overall:

   Pass/Fail:

I am going to put this nomination on hold. Below are some parts that need to be fixed before I can pass this:

• The lede has a short paragraph halfway through, which could be merged into the first or second paragraph.
• "As of 2001, as many as 87% of Christian churches" Take out "as many as"
• "Racially segregated churches have existed within the United States since before it became a country," Can you be more specific?
• Why does the lede only mention African-American and white people? Can you also provide information about Indigenous, Asian and other ethnic groups?
• In general, the lede should be expanded to become a summary of the article. Many key parts of the article are missing in the lede.
• "There are many reasons for the history and continued prevalence of racial segregation in U.S. churches," Replace with "Racial segregation in U.S. churches happened and continue to exist because of..." This uses less words to explain the same idea.
• "for community issues like civil rights, in addition to offering a respite" Replace "in addition to offering" with "and offer"
• "Many of them felt " Delete "of them"
• "New England" should be wikilinked.
• "only qualified as "cultural inferiors", they were only expected to "subject themselves"" Per MOS:SCAREQUOTES Wikipedia tries to avoid putting things in scare quotes. Instead, define what these terms mean to these groups of people or reword them so you can remove the quotation marks.
• Can the "Reconstruction" section be merged into one or two paragraphs, instead of three short ones?
• "It was especially during this time that African Americans began forming their own churches," Delete "It was especially"
• There's a big jump from 1870 to 1948. Can information be added to describe what was happening at this time?
• "was some push from white" Replace "some push" with "an effort"
• "However, many historians have said that religion was an important motivator for people to be in favor of civil rights, because they believed that racism was sinful or unchristian." Remove "However" and describe which historians say this.
• The Black Hebrew Israelites section has one sentence about racial segregation about salvation. Do they have racial segregation in their services or other aspects?
• "According to Cassandra L. Clark," who is this person?
• In "Calvinism" the first paragraph explains what Calvinism is but this is offtopic as it does not talk about racial statistics or segregation. Same with Lutherism and Evangelicalism.
• In the Catholicism section, delete "Racial Segregation in American Churches and Its Implications for School Vouchers"
• You need to resolve the "Who" tag at the beginning of the "Organised communities" section.
• The "Black Lives Matter" and "Racially targeted violence" sections are interesting, but I'm confused what this has to do with racial segregation in American churches

Overall, this is an interesting article that needs more focus on the topic of racial segregation. I'll pause the review there and let you resolve the above comments before continuing. Please ping me when this is finished. Z1720 (talk) 03:20, 6 March 2021 (UTC)

The nominator has not responded to this review after multiple talk page notices, so I will consider this nomination abandoned and fail it. The nominator may bring this to GAN again once the above are addressed. Z1720 (talk) 16:15, 13 March 2021 (UTC)