Latino Mennonites: Civil Rights, Faith, and Evangelical Culture

Chapter 4. “Jesus Christ Made a Macho Outta Me!”: The 1972 Cross-Cultural Youth Convention

T chapter 4 U “Jesus Christ Made a Macho Outta Me!” The 1972 Cross-Cultural Youth Convention You worry about the preaching and I’ll worry about the politics. —Lupe De León, MMC leader, 1972 A Youth Movement In 1972 the Minority Ministries Council printed a brochure that read: “If you’re Mennonite chances are better than 9 out of 10 that you are white, affluent and will ask . . . the minority what?”1 The brochure caught people’s attention, but it also raised an important point: just who are these “minorities” in the Mennonite Church? Even as black and brown leaders rose to prominence through their work in the MMC, to most Mennonites they remained largely unknown. One reason for this was the demographics of the church. In the early 1970s only 6 percent of people in the Mennonite Church were considered minorities. Three percent were African American, 2 percent Latino, and 1 percent Native American. There were a total of 75 nonwhite churches across the United States, where approximately 3,100 members attended.2 This relatively small constituent base posed several problems for MMC leaders. For the most part, African American and Latino churches carried little clout in the everyday business of the Mennonite Church, and many people in the pews of minority congregations were just as clueless as whites about the role and work of the MMC. Much of T “jesus christ made a macho outta me!” U 99 the work of the MMC came out of the church offices in Elkhart, Indiana, and despite their best efforts, they had not been able to tap into Latino and African American churches beyond their own leadership base. That all changed the week of August 20–27, 1972, as nonwhite youth from across the country gathered for the first Cross-Cultural Youth Convention (CCYC). Described as an event to inspire “minority youth to gain a sense of identity and help young people be proud to stick with the church,” the CCYC was the first convention of its kind in the Mennonite Church.3 Organizers hoped to grab the attention of a broad Mennonite constituency, but they also saw the CCYC as an opportunity to spread their ideas about culture, race, and identity to a new generation of black and brown Mennonites. The weeklong convention was held on the campgrounds of Epworth Forest Park in northern Indiana and attracted nearly 300 Latino, African American, Native American, and white youth. With the goal of “analyz[ing] the whole issue of identity,” youth groups came from as far away as Los Angeles, Florida, South Texas, New York, Puerto Rico, Oklahoma , and Canada. The youth who attended were treated to a litany of speakers who lauded the benefits of interethnic collaboration and raised important questions about how the politics of gender and race permeated the MMC’s new mantra of a “multiethnic brotherhood.”4 With an eye toward understanding the complex intersections of race, gender, and religion, this chapter pays particular attention to the complex politics that flourished at the CCYC in 1972. On one hand, the CCYC provided a space for black and brown youth to talk about their lives as young people, as racial minorities, and as evangelicals. Youth at the convention came away with a strong desire to work across racial and ethnic lines, they agreed to abstain from military service, and they offered their support for the United Farm Workers movement. But the swell of ethnic pride was tempered by black and brown youth’s resistance to the notion that ethnic identity trumped religious identity. Youth at the convention, along with some of the harshest critics of the event, complained that too much emphasis was placed on interethnic and civil rights politics. While youth were captivated by the stories of racism and oppression that the speakers shared, they were troubled by the few opportunities they had to focus on issues of faith or living a Christian life. Even so, the CCYC was a galvanizing event for interethnic solidarity. 100 T black, brown, and mennonite U For the first time in the church’s history, nonwhite youth came together to learn about each other’s experiences and movements. For a group of leaders who felt like outsiders in a majority white church, the CCYC opened an important space to share common experiences and where black and brown Mennonite youth could get to know each other. But its significance...