POLS 4790 Lecture 2: Racial Identity Lecture
Document Summary
Big picture unlike for whites, class differences for blacks are largely erased by feelings of. Linked fate, i. e. feelings of shared outcomes with other blacks. Black political behavior had historically been fairly uniform. Strong support for republicans following the civil war, then democrats following civil. But the 1980s saw the emergence of a new black middle class. Heuristics are used by voters to make complicated political decisions. Usually political party, maybe gender or place of birth. The more one believes one"s own life chances are linked to those of blacks as a group, the more one will consider racial group interest in evaluating alternative political choices. ~ 75% of black survey respondents in the 1980s expressed some feelings of linked fate. 95% of black survey respondents in the 1980s evaluated the economic position of blacks as worse than whites. Feelings of linked fate are slightly, positively correlated with education. This suggests education may be playing a socialization role.