Note:
Gunnar Myrdal died in 1987, less than 70 years ago.
Therefore, this work is protected by copyright,
restricting your legal rights to reproduce it.
However, you are welcome to view it on screen, as you do now.
Read more about copyright.
Full resolution (TIFF) - On this page / på denna sida - IX. Leadership and Concerted Action - 40. The Negro Church - 6. Trends and Outlook
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
878 An American Dilemma
cults, but so are young people in all classes. The issue of emotionalism is
still a keen divider but the dividing line now cuts deeper into the Negro
community. In many Negro communities perhaps the majority still cling
to the old patterns and resent persons^—including ministers—who will not
participate with them in the display of intense religious feeling. But,
according to Mays and Nicholson, even in the rural South the revival
meetings are less successful than they used to be, the professional evangelist
is beginning to disappear, and the regular sermons attempt to be more
thought-provoking.®^
This is all part of the general process of acculturation. With considerable
lag, the Negro clergymen, too, are acquiring a better education, which is
reflected in their work. Negro preachers are increasingly in competition
with professionals, businessmen, politicians, and labor union officials for
local leadership. Competition is compelling them to try to do something
positive for the Negro community. The social work programs of the
relatively few churches which have them are mainly a development of the
last decade or two, and we expect to see the trend continuing, especially in
the North. The movement to the North and to the Southern cities also
tends to emancipate the Negro preacher from white pressure. The fact that
he gets more of his prestige from Negroes than from whites in the North
is beneficial to the Negro community. These trends are making the Negro
church a more efficient instrument for amelioration of the Negroes position
at the same time as they are reducing the relative importance of the church
in the Negro community.
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
