How The Two-Party System Obscures The Complexity Of Black Americans’ Politics

By artappraiser on Tue, 10/06/2020 - 11:20pm |

Good read https://t.co/YopHdxffpP
— Zaid Jilani (@ZaidJilani) October 7, 2020

URL:

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-the-two-party-system-obscures-the-complexity-of-black-americans-politics/

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"This diversity in Black Americans’ preferences — not to mention the conservative bent on some of these key issues — suggests we should be wary of claims that the “Black community,” as a whole, supports any particular party’s policies."https://t.co/YopHdxffpP
— Zaid Jilani (@ZaidJilani) October 7, 2020

Some increasingly rare, data-driven anti-essentialism in media: "The key takeaway from our analysis is this: There is no “Black vote” and you should be skeptical of anyone who claims that there is some cohesive “Black community.”"https://t.co/YopHdxffpP
— Zaid Jilani (@ZaidJilani) October 7, 2020

I feel like you if followed...the typical Atlanta mayoral election you would come to this conclusion. But the myth persists of united racial interests/views because there are organizations and surrogates who seek political power based off of that myth.
— Zaid Jilani (@ZaidJilani) October 7, 2020

by artappraiser on Tue, 10/06/2020 - 11:24pm

Except I can argue for and against capital punishment. I can argue for and against the level of public supports. I can argue for and against the level of policing - and focusing more on attitudes of the police, not just #'s and funding. So I don't know if this type polling tells us as much as a more generic "black attitude" might. Maybe there's a lot of differentiation, maybe there isn't, but I'm not sure they're this type of "issues voters". Combine with the interplay and influence of last generation on this. Do they listen? Do they rebel? Do they kind of shake their head but still go a bit with pops?

by PeraclesPlease on Wed, 10/07/2020 - 1:36am

Note summary of article:

To be sure, we’ve only presented a snapshot of the diversity of Black political thought; readers interested in learning more should read (or skim) a few key texts:

Hanes Walton’s “Invisible Politics,”

Michael Dawson’s “Black Visions,”

Melissa Harris-Perry’s “Barbershops, Bibles, and BET,”

Cathy Cohen’s “The Boundaries of Blackness,”

Katherine Tate’s “What’s Going On?,”

or Candis Watts Smith’s “Black Mosaic.”

This is an incomplete list, to be sure, but anyone seriously interested in understanding the complexities of Black politics would do well to read these texts (and talk to some Black people).

by artappraiser on Wed, 10/07/2020 - 5:09pm

When I was on the train going to Californis in 2016, I was seated next to a Hispanic woman who said "all I know is I don't want a woman for president. Hillary, she's crooked." A lot of people don't quite line up with what the experts would expect them to.

by Orion on Wed, 10/07/2020 - 8:22pm

How The Two-Party System Obscures The Complexity Of Black Americans’ Politics

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