We go where our family goes. We go where our friends are, and because our social networks are so segregated by race,… — Michael Emerson Copy Share Image
If we go into white congregations, non-whites will sometimes say it felt like worship never started. It was sort of dead and… — Michael Emerson Copy Share Image
There's always that sense of because we're so racially defined, if you're trying to cross the boundaries you don't fit into any… — Michael Emerson Copy Share Image
So there was great clashes when, you know, if you believe you shouldn't remove your shoes and someone's taking their shoes off,… — Michael Emerson Copy Share Image
Maybe there's even anger. But if they make it through that they come to a new agreement, and they start creating a… — Michael Emerson Copy Share Image
Call-and-response style, yes, exactly. So whenever different groups get together then there has to be this long period of negotiation. How will… — Michael Emerson Copy Share Image
Humor is so culturally based that when I try to tell a joke as me being a white American, if I tell… — Michael Emerson Copy Share Image
I certainly think so, and I argue so, and I give talks on that. Are there risks by putting people together? Absolutely.… — Michael Emerson Copy Share Image
You find the most in not any particular denomination specifically. It's the style of worship. So if we have what we call… — Michael Emerson Copy Share Image
That's a big fear, right, and when I talk with black pastors, the same thing: If we try to have this move… — Michael Emerson Copy Share Image
In part because they had no choice, right? If you were a slave, you did what the master said. And they said… — Michael Emerson Copy Share Image
Every pastor I talk to says, and particularly if they're African American they'll say, "I'm not black enough for African Americans. I'm… — Michael Emerson Copy Share Image
So one of the profound things we found when studying these congregations, the mixed ones, is just how much overlap and interracial… — Michael Emerson Copy Share Image
I mean, so if I've talked to whites in City of Refuge, sometimes they'll wonder, "Why do we do things a certain… — Michael Emerson Copy Share Image
If you move here from somewhere else, I often think if I move to Germany, for example, or if I move China… — Michael Emerson Copy Share Image
It may be changing, but still it's the one place, that total control of an institution, that African Americans have. So sometimes, you know,… — Michael Emerson Copy Share Image
Call-and-response style, yes, exactly. So whenever different groups get together then there has to be this long period of negotiation. How will we worship?… — Michael Emerson Copy Share Image
I think people respond to villains because people in general are more villainous than heroic. — Michael Emerson Copy Share Image
So you find a lot of these sixth Americans congregate in these interracial congregations. They hang out together at work, at school, wherever. — Michael Emerson Copy Share Image
There are roles that are terrifying because they're large or you may feel that they're out of your line, but I'm never terrified once… — Michael Emerson Copy Share Image
We do not have an American culture. We have a white American culture and a black American culture. So when those two groups try… — Michael Emerson Copy Share Image
I think of myself as a problem-solver. I want to go in and help the director and the writer to get the best they… — Michael Emerson Copy Share Image
But what we found in the study is that churches are ten times less diverse than the neighborhoods they sit in. So there's something… — Michael Emerson Copy Share Image
And different traditions stress different - so then there's that. I talked to an African American who says before she goes into an interracial… — Michael Emerson Copy Share Image
I think it's easier, I really do, because of not having that similar history, so that's why I think two-thirds of these mixed congregations… — Michael Emerson Copy Share Image
There are three things, and it depends on the group that we're talking about, but there's history, there's culture, and then there's social networks.… — Michael Emerson Copy Share Image
I ask the clergy why don't I see myself represented in leadership? And I'm told, and this happens quite a bit, "We don't think… — Michael Emerson Copy Share Image
![“We do not have an American culture. We have a white American culture and a black American culture. So when those two groups try to get together, [it's] very difficult because they each feel like they have the right to their culture.” quote by Michael Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/df1/michael-emerson-4622_american-culture_we-do-not-have-an-american-culture-we-ha_147976.jpg)
