The past few case studies have examined political power and its interaction with the American people as one large mass, but the population of the United States is anything but. According to the United States Census Bureau, there are 320 million people living in the country, each of who are unique and posses a different set of identities that contribute to who they are as people.[1] These collections of identities that are inherent to each person contributes to the political activity of the American electorate. Does racial identity contribute to likelihood of voting? Are there unique ways that typically oppressed groups interact with political power? By no definition is America a homogenous country, but how does that lack of sameness present itself in the political sphere? This paper will hone in on racial identity, particularly blacks in America, and how those that identify as such interact with politics in an attempt to show how those with political power tend to strategically alienate certain groups within society along these identities. This top-down manipulation is countered with a sense of purpose these identity groups develop to combat the potential rise of outright discrimination.

 

            The history of African Americans in the United States is well documented, so I will not spend too much time going into the horrors of slavery, but I will say that in no way did anti-black discrimination and prejudice end with the adoptions of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments in the 19th century. With slavery outlawed, dominant and white America was forced to practice their hate within a new set of rules. They developed Jim Crow laws as a new method of keeping nonwhite Americans subjugated in the political realm, particularly in terms of voting, the most basic method of political participation. Shaun Bowler and Gary Segura discuss Jim Crow laws in their 2011 book, The Future Is Ours: Minority Politics, Political Behavior, and the Multiracial Era of American Politics:

 

Especially in the South, African Americans often faced a series of obstacles to exercising the vote, such as being asked to pass “literacy tests,” which were often quite detailed examinations of knowledge of American government and history, examinations white voters were never asked to take. It is important to note that this phenomenon was not limited to the South or to African Americans. States and counties from every party of the country, including parts of California and Washington and boroughs of New York City, have faced additionally scrutiny, federal intervention, and other measures as a consequence of exclusionary tactics surrounding the right to vote. The Voting Rights Act of 1965…was specifically written to overcome the use of legal and extralegal practices to exclude minorities from the voting booth and minimize minority political voice and power.[2]

 

While voting is clearly an important demonstration of political participation, it is hard for minority groups to be encouraged to go to the polls when there are constant demonstrations of those with political power not caring about them. Particularly in the realm of incarceration and drugs, politicians treat minority groups with disdain. In the words of noted civil rights advocate and author of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness Michelle Alexander, “for reasons largely unrelated to actual crime trends, the American penal system has emerged as a system of social control unparalleled in world history.”[3] In her landmark book, Alexander addresses the fact that since that time in the 1960s, racial discrimination has slowly crept back into American society, particularly in terms of politics. This racial discrimination has taken the form of higher incarceration rates for minorities and the manipulation of drug legislation to target blacks and other minorities. As it stands, “the United States imprisons a larger percentage of its black population than South Africa did at the height of apartheid.”[4] It is no wonder that the black population of the United States cannot fully commit to having faith in the American political system, given this historical oppression.

 

            An important question to be asked is if political representation for nonwhites is so poor, why don’t more of them run? The answer is simple: identifying as nonwhite and running as a candidate for office in the United States is nowhere near the same as a white person running. Valeria Sinclair-Chapman and Melanye Price offer one look in terms of black politicians:

 

Black aspirations for political leadership have been shaped by insurgent and outsider politics. The successes of the civil rights movement put in motion a "new black politics" that facilitated gains in black office-holding and influence in local, state, and national politics (Tate 1994; Dawson 1994; Williams 1987). Many of the first blacks to win offices as urban mayors, state legislators, and congressional representatives did so by organizing outside of traditional party networks and forming independent organizations that allowed for some what autonomous black leadership (Tate 1994; Preston et al. 1987). Prior to this, black elected leadership was often criticized as being beholden to white political machines and thus not representative of black goals (Smith 1996; Walton 1985).[5]

 

Despite all of this, the country has made progress. In 2008, Barack Obama was elected as the first African American President of the United States, a powerful moment for a country with such a history of slavery and oppression. Voter turnout in this election soared, with the most votes cast in a presidential election than ever before, a testament to how much was at stake, both in the actual presidency, but also in the symbolism of the moment. The 2008 election is lauded as a turning point, but is it really? Looking back at history, it just shows how much there is to overcome in terms of minority groups feeling comfortable interacting with political power on a national scale. Jane Junn presents findings from a 1990 Citizens Participation Study in a research article from The American Behavioral Scientist:

 

The biggest differences between Whites and minority Americans are in the activities of voting (both at the presidential level and for local candidates) and contacting a government official. Not surprisingly, these activities require interaction with bureaucratic institutions of government… The differences between groups recede dramatically when we consider forms of direct political activity, where fewer structural and institutional barriers exist. In the 1990 national data, African American citizens are more active in all three types of direct participation (serving on local boards, working with others in the community, and participating in a protest) than Whites.[6]

 

This data just goes to show that when it comes to political participation and interaction with power, minority groups in the United States feel more comfortable at a local level, rather than a “system-directed political activity.” After decades of abuse of political power, it seems that minority groups gave up on trying to make a difference at the higher levels of political authority. There is contradictory evidence to this, an inherent tension that exists between the feelings of alienation enforced by those with political power and how blatant discrimination can galvanize minority groups into action, including combatting political power directly.

 

            The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s is a clear example of a moment in time when African Americans decided the racism and prejudice heaped on them under a disguise of legality was too much. The Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Selma to Montgomery Marches, the Freedom Rides, the March on Washington- all of these are representative of acts undertaken to try and change the course of history. But one only need to look back at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to see that his roots began in local activism, to realize that it took a lot to bring the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to a national political level. And in reflection, it is clear that the freedoms and rights gained in the 1960s might have changed the laws in the books, but not the laws in the hearts and minds in white Americans in power. Racism is not dead. We do not live in a post-racial state. Events of the recent past, such as the onslaught of police brutality against minority Americans, have shown just how much further there is to go. How can we as a society take that next step? Education. Education is the answer, the solution, and the critical component of a society unburdened by thoughts of racial superiority. We are not born with preconceived notions of hierarchy, they are taught, just like equality and justice can be and must be taught.

 

 

 

 

[1] http://www.census.gov/popclock/

 

[2] Bowler, Shaun and Gary Segura. “Minority Electoral Participation.” The Future Is Ours: Minority Politics, Political Behavior, and the Multiracial Era of American Politics. 2011.

 

[3] Alexander, Michelle. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. 2010. Page 8.

 

[4] Ibid, page 6.

 

[5] Sinclair-Chapman, Valeria and Melanye Price. “Black Politics, the 2008 Election, and the (Im)possibility of Race Transcendence.” PS: Political Science and Politics. Vol. 41, No. 4 (Oct., 2008), pp. 739-745. http://www.jstor.org.proxy.lib.umich.edu/stable/pdf/20452305.pdf

 

[6] Junn, Jane. “Participation in liberal democracy: The political assimilation of immigrants and ethnic minorities in the United States.” The American Behavioral Scientist, 42(9), 1417-1438. 1999. http://search.proquest.com/docview/214769957?accountid=14667