Shades of White Flight

MARK T. MULDER is an associate professor of sociology at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

• List of MapsPreface and Acknowledgments1   Introduction: The Irony of Religion and Racial SegregationPart One   The Evolution of an Evangelical Denomination2   Mobility and Insularity3   Shuttered in Chicago4   A Case Study of the Closed Community: The Disrupted Integration of Timothy Christian SchoolPart Two   City and Neighborhood Change5   Chicago: A Brief History of African American In-Migration and White Reaction6   The Black Belt Reaches Englewood and RoselandPart Three   Congregations Respond to Neighborhood Change7   The Insignificance of Place8   The Significance of Polity9   Second Roseland (CRC) Leaves the City10   A Contrast between Sister Denominations11   Conclusion: The Continuing Resonance of Religion in Race and Urban PatternsNotesBibliographyIndex

"A highly readable, tightly argued, and compelling book." (Marginalia Review of Books) "Mulder's study is an important effort that shows how congregational polity can have long-term neighborhood implications. Highly recommended." (Choice) "A sobering wake-up call for American evangelicals to see how their faith played a hand in creating ghettos and oppressing others. Shades of White Flight is simply a must-read for those researching and working on the front lines of addressing racial inequality." (Sociology of Religion) "Shades of White Flight serves as an excellent entry into this new and promising field of research." (Review of Religious Research) "This micro-history brings attention to the need to consider the role of religious institutions in shaping attitudes about place, and therefore how they contribute to the shape of urban spaces in America." (Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion) "Scholars of urban sociology, urban history, and religious institutions will find this book appealing as it sheds light on how evangelical Protestant denominations responded to urban demographic change. The book highlights the complicated role such churches play in urban neighborhoods." (Journal of Urban Affairs) "Shades of White Flight is a fascinating book on race, religion, and urbanization that provides key insights on how a uniquely American brand of evangelicalism unintentionally contributed to 'white flight' in Chicago." - Gerardo Martí (author of Worship across the Racial Divide: Religious Music and the Multiracial Congregation) "A profound work. Mark Mulder, an astute observer of urban life and rising star in the field, opens our eyes to the role of religion in today’s intense segregation patterns and neighborhood disinvestment. I could not put this book down." - Michael O. Emerson (Allyn & Gladys Cline Professor of Sociology, Rice University) "[Mulder's] s categories of polity, precedence, and place will prove useful guideposts to those wishing to undertake this task. The book should also serve as a cautionary tale for white evangelicals as they continue to make decisions about the location and relocation of their congregations." (American Journal of Sociology)