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CROSSLING, LOVE L., Ph.D. Abstinence Curriculum in Black Churches: A Critical Examination of the Intersectionality of Race, Gender, and SES. (2009) Directed by Dr. Kathleen Casey. 243 pp. Current sex education curriculum focuses on pregnancy and disease, but very little of the curriculum addresses the social, emotional, or moral elements. Christian churches have made strides over the last two decades to design an abstinence curriculum that contains a moral strand, which addresses spiritual, mental, social, and emotional challenges of premarital sex for youth and singles. However, many black churches appear to be challenged in four areas: existence, purpose, developmental process, and content of teaching tools at it relates to abstinence curriculum. Existence refers to whether or not a church body deems it necessary or has the available resources to implement an abstinence curriculum. Purpose refers to the overall goals and motivations used to persuade youth and singles. Developmental process describes communicative power dynamics that influence the recognized voices at the decision-making table when designing a curriculum. Finally, content of teaching tools refers to prevailing white middle class messages found in Christian inspirational abstinence texts whose cultural irrelevance creates a barrier in what should be a relevant message for any population. The first component of the research answers the question of why the focus should be black churches by exploring historical and contemporary distinctions of black sexuality among youth and single populations. The historical and contemporary distinctions are followed by an exploration of how the history of black church development influenced power dynamics, which in turn affects the freedom with which black Christian communities communicate about sexuality in the church setting. Thirdly, there is an assessment of the intersection of church pedagogy with prevailing SES of mega versus small-independent black churches, and how that intersection molds and shapes the purpose of abstinence education in particular church settings. I explore communicative power dynamics as presented in Mark Orbe’s (1998) co-cultural theory to assess the impact that contextual identity plays in black church settings, which directly affects the variation of voices that influence curriculum development. Finally, the issues of race, class, and gender and their relationship to the availability and consumption of Christian inspirational texts on the topic of abstinence via political economy is presented. My analysis focuses on interviews from five ministers, who served as youth, singles, or college pastors North Carolina. A combination of narrative (Casey, 1993), co- cultural, and qualitative content analysis methodologies were used in the research. Using narrative methodologies, assess for inter-textuality, silence, selectivity, and slippage. Co cultural methodologies guide my assessment of communicative orientations and practices that influenced the participants’ approach to abstinence curriculum development. Finally, I use qualitative content analysis methodologies to decode messages that depicted messages of race, class, or gender in the content of Christian inspirational abstinence texts. An overwhelming presence of nonassertive separation and assimilation discourse was reported in the ministers’ narratives in reference to leadership and parental roles in developing curriculum. Other prevailing orientations were aggressive separation and assimilation in the early experiences of the participants pre-ministry, as well as for the youth and singles who they currently serve. The qualitative content analysis revealed that prevailing messages of race, class, and gender which marginalize readers. The implications of the research are that black churches have to work diligently to create a curriculum that recognizes the voice of the sexually active teens in their congregation, as well as to encourage parents to contribute to the process of teaching abstinence away from the church. Additionally, Christian authors, both black and white, must be careful not to overlook the opportunity to consider the multiple sexual experiences from a multi-ethnic/cultural perspective. A broadening of the currently narrow space of imagery and discourse in texts may reach and influence otherwise marginalized readers. ABSTINENCE CURRICULUM IN BLACK CHURCHES: A CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF THE INTERSECTIONALITY OF RACE, GENDER, AND SES by Love L. Crossling A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of The Graduate School at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy Greensboro 2009 Approved by Dr. Kathleen Casey Committee Chair © 2009 by Love L. Crossling To the Trinity To my parents: Jerry Crossling and Valerie Campbell To my stepfather: Ordencie Campbell, Sr. ii APPROVAL PAGE This dissertation has been approved by the following committee of the Faculty of The Graduate School at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Committee Chair Committee Members Date of Approval by Committee Date of Final Oral Examination iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS To the Most High God, thank You. You know the rest. To my mother, for making sure that I never stand on the wall, certain that I am always prepared to dance. You’re a wonderful instructor. To my father, for letting me know that your pride would not have waivered, whether I became a Ph.D. or not. To my step-father, for being the very reason why mommy was free to travel back and forth all of these years to coach me through this process. Thank you for taking care of our home and for sharing her. To my siblings, thank you for loving me, supporting me, and allowing me to “check out” from time to time, in order to accomplish this goal. To my entire family and friends, thank you for believing that I can do anything. To Reverend Dr. Kenneth L. Hill and Evangelist Janice Hill, thank you for every call out to God that you made on my behalf, knowing that this day of completion would come. To Dr. Kathleen Casey, thank you for saying that this was a wonderful topic when the rest of the world said that it was not “academic enough.” You believe in me, and I know this for certain. To Tiffany “T” Cray, Michelle “Chelle” Walker, Jamie “J” Ingram, and Allison “Alli-cat” Summerville, thank you for all of the “sister-friend” daydreams about my success. Let the vacation begin. To North Ramsey Street Church of God, thank you for you love and prayers. I’ll never forget my “little church in the circle.” To Armond Towns, thank you for teaching me about love, friendship, and the discipline of a real scholar. You are golden. To Dr. Kenneth Anderson, for interrupting me by saying, “and you will,” when I began the phrase, “If I graduate.” Thank you for answering the phone that afternoon. To Starr Brown and Ashley D. Hill, for camping out at my home to make sure that I did not drown in my own fears of doubt during the final stretch. You prayed me through. iv To the one who is a part-time carpenter and London stage performer, thank you for reminding me to get a passport—It is time to explore life. To the participants, thank you for teaching me the power of the human story, all over again. I am a learner. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1 II. YOUTH CULTURE AND SEXUALITY ..................................................................... 16 Themes ...................................................................................................... 21 Immediate Gratification ................................................................ 21 Pleasure and Meaning .................................................................. 24 Entitlement ................................................................................... 25 Maintenance and Pursuit of Power and Privilege ........................ 27 Gender and Multiple Competing Realities ................................... 31 Religion.......................................................................................... 36 Sexual Learning ............................................................................. 38 Issues Pertinent to Black Sexuality ........................................................... 40 History ........................................................................................... 40 Familial Patterns ........................................................................... 44 Socio-economics ........................................................................... 46 Media ............................................................................................ 47 Religion.......................................................................................... 49 III. THE HISTORY OF BLACK CHURCHES AND MORAL CURRICULUM ...................... 51 Race Relations ........................................................................................... 56 Antebellum Period ........................................................................ 56 Postbellum Period ......................................................................... 61 Power ........................................................................................................ 64 Structure ................................................................................................... 68 Educational Values ...................................................................................

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