New Research Shows How Where Black People Worship Influences Their Politics

What happens to Black political engagement when the Black church isn’t an influence? That question is at the heart of new research, which found that Black Americans worshipping in multiracial congregations are more likely to disengage from politics than those attending predominantly Black churches.

For generations, the Black church has been a place to worship without checking politics at the door – a space where racial inequality could be named, debated and turned into collective action. But now, new Brookings research points to a troubling shift: Black worshippers in multiracial churches are more likely to check out of partisan politics than Black Americans in predominantly Black congregations – even when they grew up in similar religious environments.

The finding lands at a critical moment, with the country one month out from the November midterm elections. We’ve been tracking concerns about voting rights and Black political power, particularly in the South, where redistricting, the GOP-backed SAVE Act and recent Supreme Court rulings could reshape the political landscape for Black voters.

Although Black political organizing remains consequential, more Black Americans are also reevaluating their relationship with one of the country’s oldest institutions for Black civic and political engagement, dating back to slavery.

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During the civil rights movement, churches provided the physical and social infrastructure for organizing. The Montgomery Bus Boycott was coordinated through Black churches. Martin Luther King Jr. rose to national prominence through the Black Baptist tradition. Churches hosted meetings, raised money, distributed information and provided a measure of protection for activists challenging segregation and disenfranchisement.

The church’s role in politics didn’t end with the Civil Rights era. In 2021, Pew Research Center found that 47% of Black Protestants who worship in predominantly Black churches had heard sermons about voting, protesting or other political engagement in the previous year. But among Black Protestants attending churches with multiracial congregations, that figure decreases to 33%.

The gap also extends to conversations about race. Nearly half of Black Protestants attending Black churches (47%) said they had heard sermons about racial inequality or race relations. Pew found lower levels among Black Protestants attending churches with racially mixed congregations.

It’s important to note that Black Americans as a whole recognize the institution’s historical importance. Pew reported that 77% believe predominantly Black churches have done at least “some” to help Black people move toward racial equality, including 29% who said they had done “a great deal.”

The latest shift is also vibrating across generations. As The Root has reported, Black Gen Z is increasingly questioning its relationship with the traditional Black church. Younger Black Americans are less likely than older generations to attend predominantly Black congregations.

Pew also found that about three-in-ten Black Gen Zs and Millennials attended religious services at a Black congregation, compared with roughly half of Baby Boomers and older Black Americans. But leaving the Black church doesn’t necessarily mean leaving politics.

Young Black Americans may be taking political conversations somewhere else–social media, grassroots organizations, mutual-aid networks, student groups and other community spaces. The concern, however, is whether those newer spaces can replace what the Black church once provided under one roof: faith, community, political education, leadership development and organizing.

Brookings researcher Ryon J. Cobb argues that the issue isn’t diversity itself. His research points instead to leadership and institutional power. Black-led multiracial congregations, he finds, show considerably less political disengagement than multiracial congregations led by white clergy.