Undivided

Reviews

“The book serves as a portrait in miniature of the American religious landscape . . . Undivided offers a refreshingly complex portrait of an institution and its members on the rocky path to change.”
—The New York Times

“A short, sensitive account of four congregants in a single church in Cincinnati . . . Undivided is a careful close study . . . Compelling . . . Han found Crossroads to be filled with something that looked like hope.”
—The New Yorker

“Combining rigorous research with relatable real-life characters whose stories are told in straightforward sentences . . . An insightful book about faith, race, and the failures of communication that often plague us.”
— Minneapolis Star Tribune

“A masterful feat of elegant storytelling and rigorous research, Undivided invigorates readers with an astonishing example of what it takes to make real change, even in the context of deep polarization and racialized subjugation.”
—Jennifer Parker, editor Hammer and Hope

"Building a truly multiracial democracy is the great political challenge of our time. The last half century has taught us that changing national laws and policies is the easy part; multiracial democracy won’t take root, however, until society itself transforms. In this beautifully-written book, Hahrie Han offers us a glimpse into how that might be done. Drawing on deep research into the experience of a single church community, Undivided offers a powerful lesson: building sustainable racial solidarity is slow, hard work, filled with uncertainty. There is no playbook or formula—only trial and error. And it is done from the bottom up, though relationships. Any American concerned with the future of our democracy should read this book.”
—Steven Levitsky, co-author of How Democracies Die

“Undivided feels like it is written by someone who understands and, dare I say, loves the church. And because of that, the book catches the church doing right, and praises it, but also challenges it to do better.”
—Dave Ferguson, author of B.L.E.S.S.: 5 Everyday Ways To Love Your Neighbor & Change The World

“Undivided is a remarkable book that takes readers on a poignant journey through the messy complexities of faith, racism, and personal transformation in a painfully fraught political world. It is a meaningful, person-centered, richly informed reflection on the problems and possibilities of faith-based, community-rooted solidarity. Undivided inspires, challenges, and opens its readers eyes to the difficult realities of how personal and political change happen in people's lives. Eschewing easy answers or simple solutions, Hahrie Han brilliantly illuminates an uncertain yet hope-filled path towards collective enactment of racial justice in the United States.”
—Jamila Michener, director of the Center for Racial Justice and Equitable Futures, Cornell University

“In Undivided, Hahrie Han has given us a brilliant, intimate, and moving story of real people working for true actionable change and transformative justice within their communities. Deeply researched and immersive, Undivided offers a critical and ground-breaking intervention into a surprising tale that recenters our understanding of American social movements, religion, race, and democracy.”
—Leah Wright Rigueur, author of The Loneliness of the Black Republican

“Hahrie Han has put heart and soul into telling the inspiring story of a beacon of racial progress that may seem unlikely: a program for working-class people at a Midwestern evangelical megachurch. With wisdom, humanity, and great narrative skill, Han persuades us that there is a way forward in the struggle against racism, if we are willing to be patient, to trust one another, and to operate from shared faith.”
—Nicholas Lemann, author of Transaction Man
 
“A compellingly written, meticulously researched, on the ground examination of the relationship between the Evangelicalism and racism. Driven by stories of ordinary people struggling for racial justice, this book opens up a landscape beyond the headlines and social media feeds, offering hope and insight about how to address America’s original sin. In doing so, it offers pastoral wisdom for church and social movement leaders to understand better the dynamics of organizing for real change.”
—Luke Bretherton, Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology, Oxford University

“Perceptive . . . Rigorously researched and richly nuanced, this deserves wide readership.”
—Publishers Weekly

“[Undivided] ably charts that course even as it illustrates the Christian concept of grace in action. Inspiring: a key text for any reader seeking strategies for racial reconciliation—or at least beginning to talk about it.”
—Kirkus Reviews Expand reviews