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Regardless of how one chooses to describe Latinos(as) by race and ethnicity, Latino(as) in America find themselves in a "racialized society" where they are grouped together along socially constructed lines. A racialized society "is a society wherein race matters profoundly for differences in life experiences, life opportunities, and social relationships" (Emerson and Smith 2001:7). And in the history of America, "Race ... has been a social construction that has historically set apart racial minorities from European immigrant groups" (Takaki 10). Where people live, who people marry, socio-economic status, and identity are all a part of the social construct of racialized society (Emerson and Smith 2001:8). Racialized society is created and sustained by a variety of complex systems which are both internal and external in ideology, individual and structural in form. Therefore, Latino(a) Evangelicals find themselves in a position to reinforce racialized society or break down its walls.

"Religion has tremendous potential for mitigating racial division and inequality" (Emerson and Smith 2000:154). Historically in the U.S., faith has played a critical role in the fight against slavery and in the Civil Rights movement (Emerson and Smith 2000:154). And, though faith has brought healing to racial division, religious institutions have often perpetuated racial division and social inequality that they outwardly oppose. How can Latino Evangelicals be agents of healing and transformation in our increasingly racialized society?

Fernando Medina, a Puerto Rican immigrant who came to the U.S. in his teenage years, moved with his family to the Houston area. After visiting a few other churches, the Medinas visited a church called Wilcrest which was nearby. It was a multi-ethnic church with a majority of white folks. Fernando began to develop a friendship with Glynn, his daughter's white Sunday school teacher, but he longed to get more involved with the church and was not sure if this was the right place for his family. The church had asked for volunteers to drive a group of people to the airport for a mission trip and Fernando volunteered his van. He got the van all cleaned up and ready. Then, as people were arriving he loaded some baggage onto his van. But as people began to get into the vans, no one got into Fernando's van. The other vans took off for the airport and Fernando was left there in the parking lot alone. He was hurt sensing that it was partly because he was "different" that no one chose his van and his family vowed not to go to Wilcrest again. When they were attending another church, Fernando was convicted by the message that he was letting his hurt make him want to run away. Amazingly, he decided to go back to Wilcrest. After telling the Pastor his story, he told him their family was coming back, but some things need to change. "There are too many cliques here," he said. "The goldfish are going with the goldfish and the tropical fish are with the tropical fish. We gotta be inclusive." Fernando became an agent of healing of the racial divide in his congregation and he helped his church become an agent of healing in society (Story adapted from Emerson 2006:80-84).

It would have been easy for Fernando to surround himself with people racially like himself and to perpetuate racial division even among "brothers and sisters" in Christ. Similarly, a congregation can contribute to "differential access to resources" and racial inequality by the seemingly inocuous practice of racially homogenous congregations and racially separate networks (Emerson and Smith 2000:160). Tolerance, a prominent contemporary American cultural value, is hailed as the key to addressing cultural diversity, but it has no power to heal the racial divide. Racially different people do not have to relate to each other and work out differences, but rather to tolerate one another from a distance (Emerson 2006:192). The Christian community can be an agent of healing in our racially torn society if it embraces the true work of reconciliation spoken of in Scriptures such as Ephesians 2:14-15. This is the kind of reconciliation practiced by Fernando which acknowledges racial problems and commits to deep level, loving relationships across racial barriers (Emerson and Smith 2000:54).

Latino(a) Evangelicals are in a great position to be agents of healing in racialized America. In identifying with a part of the American Evangelical movement, they have connection with other congregations of different races. As healing and reconciliation occur in and between congregations, the attitudes and ideologies that sustain a racialized society begin to change. Research shows that white people in multiracial congregations are much less likely to feel that "the number of immigrants who can legally enter the U.S. should be reduced" (Emerson 2006:126); this suggests that if we have racially integrated networks in the church, the ideologies that sustain racial injustice can change. If Latino(a) Evangelicals can decide, along with Fernando Medina, to commit to deep level relationships and networks with racially different people, their congregations can have a tremendous healing effect on society.


Marta Martinez, a member of Primera Iglesia Evangelica Libre from El Salvador, has been changed by relationships she developed with people of another race. She was shocked that she "was treated by the people [she] work[s] with with a lot of respect even though they are not hispanic." Through deep relationships she has developed, her dream for the church has changed: "My dream church is both the Spanish and English congregation coming together...and for the top and bottom of the church to be filled with different races."

Marta and Fernando have come to embrace the dream spoken of long ago by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: an integrated society where people "relate to each other across those nonrational, psychological barriers which have traditionally separated them in our society" (Emerson 2006:26). As Latino(a) Evangelicals commit to reconciliation inside and between their congregations, they continue to pursue King's dream of a "Beloved Community."


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