This Is Why There Are So Many Black American Catholics

[Guest]

I never claimed the Catholic Church is mostly white. It's very diverse. Like I said my Parish has everyone there. I will always have a big place in my heart for the African American community and culture. I've seen the hate they get since I've been a little kid. I remember riding the bus with my black friend in 1st grade and him getting called the n word over and over again. I remember in the 4 grade going to the Football hall of fame and buying a signed Bo Jackson picture and being asked by a white older male if my parents were actually going to let me hang that up in my room.

Edited August 27, 2016 by Guest

[hotpink]

8 minutes ago, Josh said:

I never claimed the Catholic Church is mostly white. It's very diverse. Like I said my Parish has everyone there. I will always have a big place in my heart for the African American community and culture. I've seen the hate they get since I've been a little kid. I remember riding the bus with my black friend in 1st grade and him getting called the n word over and over again. I remember in the 4 grade going to the Football hall of fame and buying a signed Bo Jackson picture and being asked by a white older male if my parents were actually going to let me hang that up in my room.

Your experience, while unfortunate, is not enough evidence to say this is the fault of Catholics or a result o Catholics not reaching out enough.  More likely it's a symptom of where you live and the socioeconomic factors in play.  Most people over 40 grew up in a time when racism was the norm.  Most of those people taught their children differently. 

[Guest]

Just now, hotpink said:

Your experience, while unfortunate, is not enough evidence to say this is the fault of Catholics or a result o Catholics not reaching out enough.  More likely it's a symptom of where you live and the socioeconomic factors in play.  Most people over 40 grew up in a time when racism was the norm.  Most of those people taught their children differently. 

I'm not saying it's the fault of Catholics. 

[hotpink]

1 minute ago, Josh said:

I'm not saying it's the fault of Catholics. 

Then what is your ruddy point?  

If we're not at fault then we are not doing something wrong.

if we're not doing something wrong we shouldn't be labeled racist.

we also should not be expected to make drastic changes to counter a sin we're not even committing.

[Guest]

Just now, hotpink said:

Then what is your ruddy point?  

If we're not at fault then we are not doing something wrong.

if we're not doing something wrong we shouldn't be labeled racist.

we also should not be expected to make drastic changes to counter a sin we're not even committing.

Ok no Catholics are racist and the Evangelizing to African Americans has been top notch. 

Dans comments weren't racist. Blacks need to whiten up. The Catholics using the n word last week on Facebook were just using edgy comedy like they insisted and I was being a "leftist soccer mom" as they put it.

You're right Pink. You're the best nom Catholic (Catholic) I know. You have all the answers. 

Edited August 27, 2016 by Guest

[Nihil Obstat]

1 hour ago, Josh said:

So you can't invite a couple of the Catholic hiphop African Americans (and non African Americans) on a segment once in awhile? Maybe interview them and play their video. I never said there had to be a daily hiphop show. Just show a little love. Is it really that much to ask @Nihil Obstat? Regardless how much you dislike the music and the culture. 

I do not care for the music. (Mostly.) If I ran a media outlet I would not cater to it. There is nothing devious to it. I would choose to promote other media.

[Seven77]

2 hours ago, Josh said:

They won't touch Catholic Hiphop. They won't give it the the time of day. Hiphop transcends color and is easily the most popular music today. A Catholic Priest who makes this music in very high quality has been rejected. Even though the music is very well produced and Orthadox. I never said blacks need a special invitation to watch EWTN. And it's not all about hiphop but there's no denying it's a powerful evangelizing tool to reach the masses. Anyhow God bless EWTN.

Also wasn't talking about there being a lack of African Americans on EWTN. That didn't even cross my mind but it is true. But I wasn't even thinking about that. 

To be fair, they won't even touch Catholic metal or other more popular genres. Of course these kinds of music are good evangelizing tools. I think their reasoning for not going there is because they're trying very hard to strike a balance that every Catholic watching can more or less relate… but doing that means that they don't cater to individual groups very well. And this is the problem. My thought is that they will be trying to do better and maybe branch out into another channel for youth… I'm basing this on the fact that they've acquired a new studio in the West Coast. Anyway, as it is, the network is particularly focused on teaching and covering special events.

The lack of African-Americans is, again, unfortunately, due to the historical demographics and I don't think it's fair to imply racism… anyway, there have been a lot of black Catholics on the network if you really watch it… not nearly enough mind you, but they are there.

[hotpink]

10 minutes ago, Josh said:

Ok no Catholics are racist and the Evangelizing to African Americans has been top notch. 

Dans comments weren't racist. Blacks need to whiten up. The Catholics using the n word last week on Facebook were just using edgy comedy like they insisted and I was being a "leftist soccer mom" as they put it.

You're right Pink. You're the best nom Catholic (Catholic) I know. You have all the answers. 

Sarcasm doesn't suit you.

i cannot and will not apologize for your bone headed friends. There are 324 million people in America. You have encountered 2 bad ones. Find new friends.

catholics basically don't evangelize to anyone, period. You have your panties in a twist because you think that this is a racism problem...when it's not.

[Seven77]

12 minutes ago, Josh said:

Ok no Catholics are racist and the Evangelizing to African Americans has been top notch. 

Dans comments weren't racist. Blacks need to whiten up. The Catholics using the n word last week on Facebook were just using edgy comedy like they insisted and I was being a "leftist soccer mom" as they put it.

You're right Pink. You're the best nom Catholic (Catholic) I know. You have all the answers. 

 I don't know who Pink is but your comment doesn't seem very fair.

You are right to be upset but it seems that your anger is misplaced and being directed at innocent folks. That's not being very merciful and understanding.

Again, you're right to be upset… I'm actually shocked about the experience you had on Facebook. That's really sad.

[Guest]

Just now, hotpink said:

Sarcasm doesn't suit you.

i cannot and will not apologize for your bone headed friends. There are 324 million people in America. You have encountered 2 bad ones. Find new friends.

catholics basically don't evangelize to anyone, period. You have your panties in a twist because you think that this is a racism problem...when it's not.

They're Facebook friends. I have over 3000. Never met these two people in real life. Not care to. They've now been deleted. They can go brag to someone else how they only go to Traditional Mass and defend using the n word.

Just now, Seven77 said:

 I don't know who Pink is but your comment doesn't seem very fair.

You are right to be upset but it seems that your anger is misplaced and being directed at innocent folks. That's not being very merciful and understanding.

Again, you're right to be upset… I'm actually shocked about the experience you had on Facebook. That's really sad.

Just got out of Confession 10 minutes ago and confessed anger. Will try to do better.

Just now, hotpink said:

 

catholics basically don't evangelize to anyone, period. You have your panties in a twist because you think that this is a racism problem...when it's not.

I don't wear panties. Again you are the (Just got of Confession it's taking everything not to call you a....) named Pink with a pink logo. I would love for you to say this to my face in person. I promise you it wouldn't end up well. 

Edited August 27, 2016 by Guest

[Guest]

Yo @Seven77 quote me where I expressed any anger when I started this topic? Up until now no anger was expressed. Pink is bringing it out of me with his ******** post. Is racism not allowed to be talked about? Does the topic bother alot of you people that much that it can't even be addressed? I thought this was a good conversation with some helpful insights especially from Peace. What do I expect here though. This is the place that defended George Zimmerman all the way and had no empathy for Trayvon or his family. So I'm not surprised.

Just now, Josh said:

Again you are the (Just got of Confession it's taking everything not to call you a....) named Pink with a pink logo.

Excuse me *Hot Pink*

Edited August 27, 2016 by Guest

[hotpink]

9 hours ago, Josh said:

Yo @Seven77 quote me where I expressed any anger when I started this topic? Up until now no anger was expressed. Pink is bringing it out of me with his ******** post. Is racism not allowed to be talked about? Does the topic bother alot of you people that much that it can't even be addressed? I thought this was a good conversation with some helpful insights especially from Peace. What do I expect here though. This is the place that defended George Zimmerman all the way and had no empathy for Trayvon or his family. So I'm not surprised.

Excuse me *Hot Pink*

1) Lets stop with your ridiculous diatribe against my name.  Pink is not inherently bad, in any way, shape or form.

2) "panties in a twist" is a phrase indicating you're getting emotional about a non-starter--which you are.

3) It's ok to talk about racism, but what you're doing is accusing the church of systematic, institutionalized racism.  It dosn't deserve that.

3) The catholic church does have a evangelization issue.  Besides articles written, the PEW research study indicates that while all other Christian religions have an equal retention and conversion rate (meaning that if they are converting 65% of their flock, 65% are also leaving) the Catholic church has a 40% leaving rate and only a 10% conversion rate.  This is a fact.

4) From that fact we can look at several things in 1994 and 2004 pew studies showed a 2% and 3% black population whereas, the 2014 showed 4%.  

5) PEW research study also indicated that of the 40% who left the church they were almost excusivly white and the majority between the ages of 18-35.  There were some hispanic, also between the ages of 18-35.

6) Using facts from #4 and #5 we can see that there has been a net GAIN of black Catholics while white Catholics suffered massive losses and hispanics (mainly by immigration, I'm guessing) gained the most, nearly tripiling since 1994.

7) So reality is that white young people are leaving the church in droves, hispanic people are attending the church in droves, and black catholics have made respectible and steady gains.

8) The Black Catholic survey of 2011 and the 2012 USSB survey found that 24% of Catholic churches in the US are predominantly Black, with the remainder being white or multicultural.  Remember only 12% of the US is black.

9) The 2010 study indicates the 2% black attendance vs a 12% general population that you quote, however, it also indicated that there was only a 2% overall attendence of those 18-35, when 18-35yo's make up 20% of the population according to the census bureau.  However, that study is considered extremely flawed.

10) We can then discuss general problems with the lack of youth in the church, or black youth, or hispanic youth as they seem to be the most hurting demographic overall.  Not Blacks.

11) The world is 20% "black" and the Catholic Church globally is 25% black with American Catholics making up only 6% of the world's catholics, and having 5% of the world population.  American Catholics are in the minority of global Catholics.

12) So in conclusion, it's disingenuous to call this a "black recruitment" problem.  Quite frankly after looking at the numbers with net gains of blacks and hispanics, and the only statistically significant losses (and large losses at that) being among white youth/young adults, one could argue that that's where the evangelization should be.  Not saying it should be.  Just saying please, please look at the facts.

 

And a last side note, with 3,000 friends on Facebook, you've basically turned it into a yahoo comment section.  You may want to consider starting over and keeping it under 200, as the intention of facebook was never to make tons of internet buddies, rather to stay connected with those you've met in real life in a meaningful way.  Facebook even notes this when you sign up.

Edited August 27, 2016 by hotpink

[LittleWaySoul]

Josh, with all due respect, you seem to be reading more malice into Hotpink's words than he/she (sorry, I don't know!) intends to convey. I don't think either of you disagree on the fact that there are some crummy people out there, Catholics included, who hold on to racism. 

[Quasar]

I don't understand how someone can have so much vitriol over the color-name Pink being used by a male.  This kind of attitude can't come across as welcoming or tolerant to gender-nonconforming people.  Besides, IRL, a pink tie or dress shirt on a man is a sign he's comfortable and confident with his masculinity.  

[Seven77]

12 hours ago, Josh said:

Yo @Seven77 quote me where I expressed any anger when I started this topic? Up until now no anger was expressed. Pink is bringing it out of me with his ******** post. Is racism not allowed to be talked about? Does the topic bother alot of you people that much that it can't even be addressed? I thought this was a good conversation with some helpful insights especially from Peace. What do I expect here though. This is the place that defended George Zimmerman all the way and had no empathy for Trayvon or his family. So I'm not surprised.

Excuse me *Hot Pink*

 it's like @LittleWaySoul put it…

 and what the heck are you talking about with “you people"? who are you now including in the category of racists? it is a good conversation, provided we can be understanding adults about it… "this place" didn't defend Zimmerman… although some people did, and I'm pretty sure most if not everyone here sympathized with the Martin family... I'm telling you man, stop painting with the broad brush…