Race, Place, and Clusters: Current Vision and Possible Strategies

Abstract

This paper considers how division by place affects the possibilities for racial unity, especially in severely fragmented US metropolitan areas. It reviews how the Universal House of Justice has promoted use of the institute process as a way of framing action in places such as neighborhoods and villages. We also consider the challenges that place-based action poses for racial unity and suggest how the “institute process” as a strategy could possibly overcome these, especially in places—such as metropolitan Detroit—that are severely segregated by race.