Part I: Foundations
Reading: Chapter 1: Universal Freedom Declared, Universal Freedom Declined
● Freedom is apt to be misunderstood, many contradicting and conflicting ideas
● Freedom is inextricably linked to the idea or institution of slavery
○ On the other hand, other things can happen that demand freedom, such as religion
Freedom: A Typological Analysis
● Collective deliverance is “the liberation of a group from external control- from captivity,
slavery or oppression”
● African-American political thought rejects sovereign freedom and embraces collective
deliverance
Freedom, Power, and Politics
● A has power over B to the extent that A can affect B’s behavior
Racism and White Supremacy Defined
● Racism is the predication of decisions and policies on considerations of race to
subordinate a racial group and maintain control over it
○ Individual and institutional
Philosophy, Politics, and Interest in Constitution Formation
The Three-Fifths Clause, the Slave Power and the Degradation of the American Democracy
● Five states (Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia) gained 14
seats for a bonus of 48%
○ Bonus increased in numbers till 1830 and percentages till 1860
● A white man in Virginia who owned a hundred slaves had the equivalent of 60 votes
compared to a Pennsylvania white man with no slaves having 1 vote
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● “Negro President” or “Negro Congressmen” refers to those who won because of the ⅗
clause
● Article I, section 9, paragraph 2: The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of
the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the
Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or duty may
be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person
● Article V: The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary,
shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the application of the legislatures of
two-thirds of the several states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which,
in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when
ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three
fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the
Congress; provided that no which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight
hundred and eight shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth
section of the first article; and that no state, without its consent, shall be deprived of its
equal suffrage in the Senate.
● Article IV, section 2, paragraph 2: A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or
other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on Demand
of the executive Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be
removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime.
Constitutional Principle and Design
● Separation of powers and federalism
● 3 expansion periods:
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○ Reconstruction (1860s)
○ New Deal (the 1930s)
○ Civil Rights (the 1960s)
Video: Race: The Power of an Illusion Episode 2
● Race is about how people apply meaning to how you look
● Race is constructed by society to push certain political and economic goals
● Notes on the State of Virginia
○ Written by Thomas Jefferson
○ Blacks are inferior to Whites in both body and mind
○ First place race is articulated in the U.S.
● The first 50 years were the majority of indentured European servants
○ African slaves were brought in to avoid a labor shortage
● People were first identified as “Christian” or “Englishmen” as opposed to white men
● Indians were seen as naturally white people but needed to be civilized
● As time went on, it was believed that only white people can maintain the land
● Nationalism increasingly became associated with race
● Are people who look and act differently made from the same creation?
○ Many people thought slaves were a different species
● Types of Mankind
○Ethnological research is based upon the ancient monuments, paintings, sculptures,
and crania of races, and upon their natural, geographical, philological, and
Biblical history
● Dred Scott v. Sanford
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○The Southern majority responded by ruling on March 6, 1857, that the Missouri
Compromise was unconstitutional and that Congress had no power to prohibit
slavery in the territories. Three of the Southern justices also held that African
Americans who were enslaved or whose ancestors were enslaved were not
entitled to the rights of a federal citizen and therefore had no standing in court
○ People of African ancestry can never become citizens of the U.S.
● Race plays a bigger role in social standings than class
● 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair
○ Black people are shown as savages
The White Man’s Burden
Take up the White Man's burden -
Send forth the best ye breed -
Go bind your sons to exile
To serve your captives' needs;
To wait in heavy harness
On fluttered folk and wild -
Your new-caught sullen peoples,
Half devil and half child.
Take up the White Man's burden -
In patience to abide
To veil the threat of terror
And check the show of pride;
By open speech and simple,
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An hundred times made plain,
To seek another's profit,
And work another's gain.
Take up the White Man's burden -
The savage wars of peace -
Fill full the mouth of famine
And bid the sickness cease;
And when your goal is nearest
The end for others sought,
Watch Sloth and heathen Folly
Bring all your hopes to nought.
Take up the White Man's burden -
No tawdry rule of kings,
But toil of serf and sweeper -
The tale of common things.
The ports ye shall not enter,
The roads ye shall not tread,
Go make them with your living,
And mark them with your dead!
Take up the White Man's burden -
And reap his old reward,
The blame of those ye better,
The hate of those ye guard -
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The cry of hosts ye humour
(Ah slowly !) towards the light:-
"Why brought ye us from bondage,
"Our loved Egyptian night ?"
Take up the White Man's burden -
Ye dare not stoop to less -
Nor call too loud on Freedom
To cloak your weariness;
By all ye cry or whisper,
By all ye leave or do,
The silent sullen peoples
Shall weigh your Gods and you.
Take up the White Man's burden -
Have done with childish days -
The lightly proffered laurel,
The easy, ungrudged praise.
Comes now, to search your manhood
Through all the thankless years,
Cold-edged with dear-bought wisdom,
The judgement of your peers
8/23 In-Class Discussion
Politics
● Who gets what, when, and how
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○ What resources you will get
○ When you qualify
○ How are you going to get it once you qualify
● Allocation of common resources
Political System
● Collection of institutions
○ Government, judiciary, lawmaking bodies (Congress), coercive arms of the state
(police, army, navy)
○ Seen as a necessary good, unnecessary good, and unnecessary evil
● Must have rules to work
○ A set of rules is considered laws
○ The rule of law
● Government oversees laws
○ Must exist to have a political system
○ Created to mediate conflict
○ If you leave people without any rules, it would be chaos and society wouldn’t
function
○ Distribute common resources and make laws
■ If your freedom of yours conflicts with the individual freedom of your
neighbor, the government can take away your freedom
○ The space of people is diminished every time a new law is made
○ People take back the space when they challenge the law
● Federal law→state law→county law→city law
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● Statutory law is good, but can be knocked down by courts
● Jim Crow laws were laws passed that targeted African Americans and stripped them of
their constitutional rights
Capitalism
● National, political, and economic ideology of America
○ A set of values and ideas through which we see and engage the world
● America uses it to answer questions about politics
● Assumes that the method that is used to distribute common resources is the market
Socialism
● The way you distribute resources is that the government distributes resources as opposed
to the citizens
Universal Freedom
● Is not universal
● 14th Amendment claims that all Americans have equal protection under the law
● We all share a civic identity
○ Geographical space
● America is multicultural/multiethnic
○ Largely influenced by the experience of 400 years of bondage
8/25 In-Class Discussion
The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross (Episode 3)
● Emancipation Proclamation
○ Declared “that all persons held as slaves” within the rebellious states “are, and
henceforward shall be free”
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○ They were only applied to states that had seceded from the U.S.
■ Border states weren’t impacted
■ Also exempted parts of the Confederacy that had come back to the Union
○ Announced acceptance of black men into the army and navy
■ Black soldiers were not treated equally during the war
○ Did not free slaves that had seceded
○ Was not the abolition of slavery
● More African American deaths in the Civil War than in all other wars combined
● 40 acres and a mule were allotted to each newly freed slave
○ Many exceptions to this, lots of people didn’t get it
● Benjamin Montgomery
○ A freed slave who gained prominence in the South through farming
● Rutherford B. Hayes
○ Removed final federal troops from the South to gain the presidency
● Reconstruction
○ The effort to reintegrate Southern states from the Confederacy and 4 million
newly-freed people into the United States
● Isiah Montgomery
○ Founded the all-black town of Mound Bayou, Mississippi in 1887
● Plessy vs. Ferguson
○ The majority upheld state-imposed racial segregation. Justice Brown conceded
that the 14th Amendment intended to establish absolute equality for the races
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before the law, but held that separate treatment did not imply the inferiority of
African Americans
○ Segregation did not in itself constitute unlawful discrimination
Reading: Chapter 2: Federalism and the Limits of Universal Freedom
● “Federalism may have more to do with destroying freedom than encouraging it”
● “If in the United States one disapproves of racism, one should disapprove of federalism”
● “Great Migration” of Blacks from North to South
Federalism: Origins and Operations in the United States
● The underlying philosophical principle of the American government is that the ultimate
sovereignty or power of the government rests with the people
● Federalism was necessary to establish Union
Federalism: Advantages and Disadvantages
● Advantages
○ States can experiment with policies, and see what works best
○ People have “choice” and can move freely between states
○ Minority groups have a chance to become the majority
● Disadvantages
○ Allows states to define rights and freedoms for citizens
○ Tends to lead to irresponsible government
● Uniformity in national policies is more likely to result in universal rights and freedoms
Reconstruction, the New Deal, and the Civil Rights Movement: The Triumph of
National-Centered Power
● National-centered power only triumphed during periods of crisis
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● “No political idea is more deeply rooted in the minds of the country (than) the right of
each state to control its affairs”
The Fourteenth Amendment: The American Charter of Universal Freedom
● Until the 1960s, 14th Amendment was more frequently used to protect corporations than
blacks
● The debate of whether the 14th Amendment was meant to include the Bill of Rights
● Civil liberties are rights of individuals that are protected by the government’s abridgment
● Civil rights are the rights of minorities to freedom and equality under the law
Video: Black Politics in Trump’s America
● The black experience is more varied than ever due to progress made in recent years
● Doesn’t make sense for Black people to participate in government because it doesn’t
work for them
○ However, they must participate to change the system
● Must figure out what is important to Black people to create a campaign that works for
them
● “History can light a way out of the present darkness”
● Before any other rights can be earned, lives must be protected by the state
● Voter suppression regime
○ Former Confederate states passed strict voter laws to suppress minority voices
● The ability of liberal/left organizations to enact policy depends on the participation of
African Americans
● HBCUs are essential for organizing thoughts and making common goals
○ Should work with the Trump administration, but make sure, to tell the truth
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● Respectability isn’t as big of a thing anymore, won’t prevent certain people from being
victims of racism
● Ideas should be at the forefront of the movement, not certain people or politicians
● Bills or policies with good intentions are often dispersed in a discriminatory way
● Have to present ideas in a way that makes sense to the electorate
● How do we get people consistently in movements?
● If you aren’t going to be responsive to our needs, don’t participate
● What is at the center of the analysis matters
● Being in the same class doesn’t help with race relations
○ People have to believe that black people entering a white-dominated space won’t
ruin it
● Black people aren’t a monolith
● Labor needs to be shared in a way where Black people don’t carry the whole burden, but
also have space for their voice
● Immigration won’t work as a wedge
8/30 In-Class Discussion
● Freedom as a concept or a value (book)
● Practical freedom of African Americans (documentary)
● Freedom is difficult to define because the concept has come to mean different things to
different people
○ Is freedom an individual value? Or is it a collective value?
○ Are rights included? If so, where do they come from? Are we born with those
rights or are they given to us by the government?
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○ Is it universal?
■ Does every individual/group enjoy the same freedom?
● America has 3 phases: slavery, segregation, and post-segregation
● Freedom derived from 2 sources according to the slavemaster
○ God who didn’t make racial groups equal
■ African Americans weren’t seen as human beings
● Rather property or chattel
○ Government
● Those who were enslaved couldn’t argue that the laws and institutions impeded their
freedom
○ Would have argued that they were born free and therefore entitled to the rights
that the government was distributing
● Founding Fathers argued that freedom was an individual concept
○ Individuals were born free
■ “All men are created equal” backs up this point
● Jefferson argued, “If all men are created equal, then how do we justify slavery?”
○ If you put it in the Declaration of Independence, you have to end slavery
○ People around him argued against ending slavery
■ ⅗ Clause is a result of these philosophies
● ⅗ of every slave would be added to the total number of free white
people (if you have 50 slaves, they would only be seen as 30
people)
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● The reason people have to say Black Lives Matter is because there were many times
when their lives were not seen at the same level of importance
○ Groups that were not equal at the beginning have to fight to be equal
● The essence of African American politics is fighting for freedom and equality after
coming from a place of not having that treatment
○ Grounded in the struggle to acquire rights and freedoms
● Economic resources are raw materials made for the accumulation of wealth
○ Land, water
● Political resources
○ Right to vote, right to run for office
● Cultural resources
○ Religion, language, education
● In America, we live in a meritocracy
○ Progress for the individual is based on merit
○ You are responsible for where you end up in life
● Something is wrong with African Americans if they can’t fulfill American Dream
○ They were denied the tools to create this lifestyle because first, they were slaves,
then they were treated as second-class citizens
○ Even in a state of not having freedom, they were expected to make it on their own
● African Americans are the only group in America that has had to fight to free themselves
from slavery
● 80% of the world’s cotton came from America
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● White people weren’t enslaved because the church said that they were fully human beings
created by God, so they couldn’t be enslaved
● Native Americans couldn’t be enslaved because although they weren’t full human beings,
they were capable of being civilized
● Slavery wasn’t stable because the world was moving toward industrialization
○ Industrial Revolution
○ This made the northern states want the country to be industrialized to compete
with the rest of the world
● Slavemasters would often rape female slaves and white women condoned it because they
couldn’t become prostitutes
○ Black “Jezebel” and white “virtuous woman”
○ This was excused because black women weren’t seen as human beings
● Thomas Jefferson even had a black girlfriend named Sally Hemmings who had several of
his children
● Slaves were only freed in some states to help fight the war
● 13th Amendment
○ Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for a crime
whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United
States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction
○ Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
● 15th Amendment
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○ The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged
by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous
condition of servitude
○ Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
● Colonization Project
○ Developed fund to send African Americans back to Africa because they would
“never be equal in America”
○ Liberia is the country that they were sent back to
○ Very quickly realized this wouldn’t work, so segregation began
● Plessy vs. Ferguson
○ 1896
○ Plessy sat in the front of the bus that was designated for white people
■ Didn’t move when asked
○ Argued that 14th Amendment proved he had equal protection under the law
■ Supreme Court said it did not apply to Black people
○ Created separate but equal
○ Legalized lynchings
■ Individual Whites could take their justice against Black people
■ Done under the First Amendment right to free speech
● Lynching was considered speech
○ The 1870s-1950s had about 5,000 recorded lynchings
● Richmond vs. the State of Virginia
○ 1898
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○ The government in VA distributed money but gave Richmond less money
○ Argued that under Plessy, they should be separate but equal
■ Supreme Court said that it was separate and unequal
● Instead of granting Black people rights, they are going to make laws to deny them
freedom and resources
● Reconstruction is the era in which Black people were allowed to vote for their
representatives
○ Created Black Wall Street
○ Elected representatives to Congress
○ 40 acres and a mule
● President Johnson made a deal with the Southern states that he would remove the troops
that oversaw Reconstruction
● This led to the creation of Jim Crow laws
○ Laws that were meant to disenfranchise African Americans
● The right to vote was taken away
○ White primaries
○ Literacy tests
○ poll tax
○ grandfather clause
■ You could only vote if your grandfather could vote in 1857
● The last legal major lynching was Emmett Till
○ They have continued since then, but they are now illegal because they are
considered a hate crime
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9/1 Class Discussion
● Race is a political construct
○ Not biological
○ Made to justify black inferiority and white superiority
■ Root of racism
● Evolved in the 1750s
○ Synonymous with the evolution of plantation slavery which evolved in the 1700s
○ Before this, race did not exist
■ More mattered about class status
● Indentured laborers and indentured owners
● It started as an economic venture
● The cotton gin was developed around this time
● Answered questions about why blacks were enslaved and not whites
● Race first starts at a difference
○ You then attach meaning to the difference, which allows it to become a difference
● Determining what makes someone “black” is subjective
● Ethnicity is a cultural construct
● Race is also history
● “Color code”
○ Brown, red, yellow, white
● You can be one race and then identify with an ethnicity that doesn’t necessarily “match”
○ Being racially white but engaging with black culture
● Fashion becomes protest
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○ Acceptance of all cultures
Part II: Political Behaviorism
Reading: Chapter 3: Political Culture and Socialization
Political culture: individual’s long-lasting, relatively fixed attitudes, beliefs, and values about
politics and the political system
Political socialization: the ongoing process by which individuals acquire these attitudes, values,
and beliefs
Agents of socialization: mechanisms by which individuals acquire their attitudes, beliefs, and
values
● Family, church, school, peers, media, and political events
Political Culture
Political subculture: variations among groups in political attitudes and behavior within the larger
context of the larger shared culture
Elements of Black Culture
● Black community
● Religiosity
● “Wish for resistance” or “defiance” of whites
● “Collectivist ethos”
○ Collective rather than individual advancement
● “Relative suspiciousness of the motives of others”
● Relatively low levels of political trust
Political Socialization
● Lifelong process
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● More complicated in Black America
● More female-headed households could affect socialization
● Environment and music play a big role
Events as Agents of Socialization
● Civil rights and black power movements
● 1960s periods of civil rest and rebellion
● African American Democratic presidential candidates
● All of these events created “collective memory”
9/6 Class Discussion
● Ideology is a set of values that are held by individuals and groups through which they
conceptualize the world around them
● Agents of socialization
○ Religion
○ Education
○ Media
○ Family
○ Geography
■ Where you live
● The question of power further elevates racism
○ Power is the ability to get people to do things that they wouldn’t normally do on
their own
■ People in power act based on the rules and their ideologies
● Racism is prejudice plus power
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● 1857: Dred Scott case
○ A slave whose master took him from Louisiana, which was a slave state, to
Missouri
○ Argued that since he is in a free state, he should be a free man
○ Supreme Court argued that although he is in a free state, he cannot be free
because he is black and a slave
● 3 conclusions from Dred Scott
○ Slaves don’t have the right to sue the government
○ No law in America that white man must respect the rights of black people
○ Any slave caught in a free state must be caught and sent back to a slave state
● Federalism
○ Citizens are governed by two or more levels of government
● Plessy vs. Ferguson set precedent for the separate but equal doctrine
○ Brown v. Board of Education overturned that precedent
● Voter suppression laws
● Institutional racism
○ a form of racism that is embedded in the laws and regulations of a society or an
organization.
○ manifests as discrimination in areas such as criminal justice, employment,
housing, health care, education, and political representation.
● Individual racism
○an individual's racist assumptions, beliefs, or behaviors and is "a form of racial
discrimination that stems from conscious and unconscious, personal prejudice"
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○ connected to/learned from broader socio-economic histories and processes and is
supported and reinforced by institutional racism
● Civil Rights Act of 1964
○prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin
○Provisions of this civil rights act forbade discrimination based on sex, as well as,
race in hiring, promoting, and firing
○The Act prohibited discrimination in public accommodations and federally funded
programs
○It also strengthened the enforcement of voting rights and the desegregation of
schools.
● Voting Rights Act of 1965
○ outlawed the discriminatory voting practices adopted in many southern states after
the Civil War, including literacy tests as a prerequisite to voting
● Massive resistance
○ The opposition of many white leaders in the South to the decision of the Supreme
Court in Brown versus Board of Education in 1954
● Civil rights movement
○ Emmett Till
■ a 14-year-old African American boy who was abducted, tortured, and
lynched in Mississippi in 1955, after being accused of offending a white
woman, Carolyn Bryant, in her family's grocery store
○ Rosa Parks
■ Most famous for the bus boycott
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9/8 Class Discussion
Video: The House We Live In: Race- The Power of an Illusion
● 1910: 58% of mining and factory workers were immigrants
○ Immigrants often desired as laborers
● Every state had different qualifications for what percentage of black you had to have to
be black
○ VA was 1/16 while FL was ⅛
● At one point, they argued that white is not something that can be scientifically proven,
but is rather subjective according to the average man
○ Difference between Caucasian and White
○ What whiteness, not what it wasn’t
○ “Whiteness was what the common white man said it was”
● Johnson Reed Immigration Act
○ Banned immigration from Asia until 1965
○ Cut down immigration from Eastern Europe
● Many unions either locked Blacks and Mexicans into low-paying jobs or kept them out
altogether
● Fair Housing Act
○ Racial language removed from federal housing policy
Reading: Chapter 4: Public Opinion
White Public Opinion on Race and Racism
● Generally uniform about politics
○ Race is the one exception
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● Race opinion tends to be one of the few consistent anchors in the thinking of White
Americans
○ Takes a lot to change one’s opinion on the matter
● Steady and consistent decline in overt racist and white supremacist beliefs
● New “modern racism” based on individualism
The Impact of Barack Obama on Symbolic Racism
● Many differing opinions
○ Anti-black attitudes are slightly more prevalent
○ Had modest effects on whites’ assessment of blacks’ work ethic and intelligence
○ Nothing has changed
African American Public Opinion: Alienation
● Trust fluctuates with system responsiveness to black concerns
● The government intentionally does things to harm blacks
○ HIV/AIDS, crack/cocaine, Hurricane Katrina
● Policing is a major area of distrust
African American Ideology
Liberalism
● Rejection of a “negative policeman” state in favor of a “positive” welfare state where the
federal government intervenes to secure the rights of individuals and provide them with
some social security
● Very homogenous opinion
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Visions of African American Political Thought
1. Explicitly expressed via the point of view of African Americans or a segment of the
community
2. Embraces a communal or holistic approach to politics over individualistic
3. Embeds a spiritual component
4. View theory and practice as interdependent or symbiotic
Conservatism
● Believe in self-reliance or self-help approaches and are anti-welfare
● Belief in anti-discriminatory aspects of markets
● Blacks don’t vote based on social issues, but rather on welfare and civil rights
Four Main Groups
1. Black right
2. Afrocentric conservatives
3. Neoconservatives
4. Individualist conservatives
Black Nationalism
● Emphasizes racial solidarity, self-definition, self-reliance, self-determination, and
separation to some degree from white America
● “Community nationalism” is when black people control and support communities and
institutions where they predominate
○ People who follow this ideology tend to be better educated and middle class
○ They are a fan of allies
○ Generally pessimistic about being able to achieve their goals
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● Separatist nationalism rejects inclusion within the white-dominated American state and
seeks the creation of a new homeland
○ People who follow this ideology tend to be young, poor, and less educated
○ Do not want allies
○ Generally optimistic about achieving their goals
● Both believe that Whites want to keep blacks down and Africa is a special homeland for
blacks
Feminism and Intersectionality
● Recognizes that analytic categories are not separate and additive, but are somewhat
interactive and multiplicative dimensions that intersect and overlap, which results in
different social and lived experiences
● Race trumps gender
9/13 Class Discussion
● What does it mean to be white and black in this country?
○ Race is a powerful phenomenon, even though it is an illusion
● Your house is a bank account
○ Only works if your house increases in value
● Capitalism is not colorblind
● In America, to be white is to be privileged, and to be black is to be underprivileged
● Race determines everything, from school to living situation to career
9/15 Class Discussion
Political Culture
● People’s (collective) attitude to politics and all things political
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○ Elections, political leaders/developments
● Political subculture
○ Attitudes that belong to a certain group within a nation/country
■ Ex. African American political culture is considered a subculture
● Political socialization
○ The method by which groups arrive at their political culture
● Political consciousness
○ One of the main concepts present in African American politics
○ Getting people to understand their condition
○ Organizations stem from the collectiveness of political opinions throughout the
black community
○ Double consciousness
■ American and African consciousness
● America says to integrate
● Africans say to defy and give themselves more power
● Black political culture tends to be more group-oriented, with an emphasis on community
● Political realignment
○ “Party switch” in which Republicans and Democrats essentially switched sides
○ Republicans were originally the ones who wanted to get rid of slavery
○ Republicans created the “Southern Strategy”, which would make them win
presidential elections from the late 60s until Obama’s presidency
■ Focused on getting most white Southerners to vote Republican because the
North was split, which allowed them to win the overall vote
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○ However, in the 1960s, Democrats started making more progressive moves, which
made white people begin to vote Republican
○ 1948 is when Republicans started voting against progressive acts
○ Democrats split before the 1948 election
■ Dixiecrats
● Eventually joined the Republicans
● Democrats south of the Mason-Dixon line
■ Opposed the integration of the army
● Political factionalization
○ Education as integration
■ W.E.B Du Bois believed in using education as a way to elevate the whole
community through the means of the “talented ten”
■ Booker T. Washington believed that learning a trade was the most
effective form of education
○ Civil Rights movement
■ MLK Jr. believed that we should try to make peace with whites and
integrate into society
■ Malcolm X believed in having their communities and not trying to
integrate with whites
○ Come together when it comes to black and white, but separate within their
communities
● Religion
○ Tend to be more liberal
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○ Follow a different version of the Bible
○ Linked fate, therefore they aren’t as quick to turn someone away
○ Make a differentiation between political and religious views
● Distrust of government
○ One reason why they don’t vote
● Political oratory
○ A person’s ability to speak well about their beliefs
● Music
○ Blues and jazz to hip hop and reggae
9/20 Class Discussion
● “American culture” means “white culture”
● People’s collective views on (political) issues
○ If America is racialized, then so are the opinions that make up the public opinion,
creating different cultures of public opinion
● On the issue of race, white public opinion has been consistent
● Obama’s presidency caused more hostility toward blacks
● White backlash
○ Wherever there has been progress in black/white relations, that progress has
always been followed by white intolerance of black people
● Alienation
○ When people feel they do not have a stake in what is going on in their society
○ Victims of institutions that are not there to support them
● Opinion on politics is heavily influenced by alienation
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○ The large disparity between blacks and whites
○ More likely to believe that drugs were intentionally put in their communities
○ More likely to believe that the CIA intentionally put crack in their communities
○ More likely to believe that Hurricane Katrina would have had a better national
response if the majority of people present in the community were white
● Color blindness
● Bell curve theory
○ White people were inherently above black people
○ Enterprise zones
■ When big corporations such as McDonald’s were given tax cuts to create
more franchises in black communities
● Institutions directly opposing laws that were created
● Important courts
○ The court is a reflection of the society
○ Warren Court
○ Burger Court
○ Rehnquist Court
○ Roberts Court
● The most consistent voting block for Democrats is black women
○ Consciousness
● Conservatism
● Black feminism
○ Made because feminism was seen to be racist
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○ White feminism did not hold gender at the forefront of their values, but race
○ Blackwomanism
● Nationalism
○ Regardless of where you live, or who you are, black people are one nation
● Liberalism
○ More open to systemic and institutional change
● Deracialization
○ Do not raise racially sensitive issues when you are campaigning
○ Distance yourself from black radicals
● African Americans driving force behind public opinion and political attitude is race
● Link fate
Reading: Chapter 5: African Americans and the Media
● “Aggregate of views men hold that affect the community” -Lord Bryce
● “Opinions held by private persons which governments find it prudent to heed” -V.O. Key
The African American Media and African Americans in the Mass Media
The African American Media
● 200 weekly newspapers
● 450 radio stations
○ Radio One
○ The Power
○ Tom Joyner Morning Show
● 7 full-power television stations
○ BET
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○ TVONE
○ OWN
○ Bounce
● News and magazines
○ Los Angeles Sentinel
○ Jet
○ Ebony
○ Essence
○ Black Enterprise
○ The Source
○ Emerge, which was shut down in 2000
● Focus on the local news that is important to the Black community and provides a
different perspective
● African American radio makes up 6% of all radio stations
African Americans and Digital Media
● The Root, NewsOne, The Grio, the Huffington Post “Black Voices”, NBCBLK.com
● The Black Commentator and Black Politics on the Web
● Congressional Black Caucus and National Newspaper Publishers Association
● Reach Media, Inc.
● 36% of black households have access to social media
● 81% of African Americans have access to a smartphone
● Have used social media for movements such as the “Jena 6” and #BlackLivesMatter
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Mass Media Coverage of African Americans
● Predominantly negative and stereotypical
○ Poor or criminal, athletes and entertainers
● Coverage of Hurricane Katrina
○ “Looting” vs “finding” food
Part III: Coalitions, Movements, Interest Groups, Parties, and Elections
Reading: Chapter 6: Social Movements and a Theory of African American Coalition
Politics
Social movement: a group of persons organized in a sustained, self-conscious challenge to an
existing system and its values or power relationships
Interest group: a group of persons who share a common interest and seek to influence the
government to adopt policies favorable to that interest
A Theory of African American Coalition Politics
● African Americans have had to form coalitions with whites to achieve their freedom
Coalition: two or more persons or groups bringing their resources together to achieve a common
objective
Rights-based coalition: one that seeks to achieve fundamental universal freedom in terms of
basic human, constitutional, and legal rights
Material-based coalition: seeks access to economic benefits such as land, education,
employment, and social security
Basic Elements
● Black-white coalitions tend to shift from rights-based to material-based, depending on
historical conditions
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● Viable conditions with whites are sometimes not possible, forcing blacks to act alone in
black nationalist or other forms of intragroup coalitions
● Because of racism and white supremacy thinking, when coalitions with whites are formed
they tend to be tenuous, unstable, and frequently short-lived, requiring constant
rebuilding
Abolition and Feminism
● Many early feminists supported the abolition of slavery as part of the general stance that
there should be universal freedom for everyone
● Male abolitionists discriminated against women
● Adoption of the 15th amendment ultimately broke the groups apart
Booker T. Washington’s Coalition for Limited Freedom
● Formed a coalition with former slave owners and businessmen, embraced the idea of
limited freedom
● Argued that newly freed slaves weren’t ready for universal freedom
○ Lacked education, property, and character
● Reconstruction was a mistake
● Blacks should temporarily give up their quest for universal freedom with social and
political rights
○ “Full citizenship rights”
● In return, former slave owners granted blacks personal autonomy or freedom to work,
and develop their own economic, social, and cultural institutions on a separate but equal
basis
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Material-Based Coalitions: From Populism to Communism
Populism
● In the 1890s between black sharecroppers and poor white farmers
○ Faced with falling wages and prices, high taxes, and heavy debt
● Southern Alliance turned into Populist Party
○ Debt relief, government ownership or regulation of railroads, and graduated
income tax
● Black people had to join Colored Farmers Alliance
The Progressives
● Largely urban, middle-class professional whites
● Federal regulation of the economy and political process reforms
○ Initiative and referendum
● Refused to condemn racial discrimination, lynching, and denial of black voting rights
● One principal leader was Theodore Roosevelt
The Labor Movement
● Black people are often left out
● New Deal Coalition, Knights of Labor, and International Workers of the World allowed
black people
● Often forced into their segregated unions or just left out entirely
Socialists and Communists
● Socialist Party only began to recruit blacks in the 1930s because of competition from
Communist Party
● Communist Party only used Black people to further the objectives of the Soviet Union
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A “Rainbow” Coalition?
● 1984 and 1988 led by Jesse Jackson
● Blacks and other people of color along with liberal or progressive whites
○ Result of the increase in immigration from Asia, Latin America, and Africa
● Based on assumption that new immigrants tend to be poor and face discrimination from
the majority
● Latinos and Asian Americans identify more with whites than blacks
African Americans, Immigration and the Prospects for a New Majority Coalition
● Hostile or skeptical of immigration because of competition for jobs
● Provide a basis for a rainbow coalition
● Increased supply of low-wage labor, which reduces wages and jobs
○ However, they do jobs others will not
● By 2050, nonwhites will be 50% of the population
Black Ethnicity and Immigration: The Impact on Race and Group Consciousness
● Increase in immigrants from Africa and the Caribbean who voluntarily moved
○ 10% of the black population in the US
■ 1.8 million
● 43.8% earned a college degree
● “Elevated minorities”
● Despite differences, foreign and native-born blacks have racial solidarity
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The Second Rights-Based Coalition: The Civil Rights Movement
The NAACP Coalition
● First thought of in 1905 by W.E.B. DuBois and William Monroe Trotter at the Niagara
Conference
○ Became NAACP four years later
● Founded by upper-middle-class white Protestants and Jews
● Tension over who should lead until the 1960s
The Strategy of the NAACP, 1910-1954: Persuasion, Lobbying, and Litigation
● Campaign of public education, and propaganda designed to combat white supremacists
and shape favorable public opinion on civil rights
● Lobbied to make lynching a federal crime
● Blocked passage of immigration legislation prohibiting legal entry of people of African
descent
● Defeated Herbert Hoover’s nomination of John C. Parker to the Supreme Court
● Smith vs. Alright, which invalidated whites-only primary
● Brown vs. Board of Education, which reversed separate but equal
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Strategy of Protest, 1955-1965
● Dominated by MLK and SCLC
○ An intraracial coalition of black ministers and churches
● Later joined by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and Congress
of Racial Equality (CORE)
○ Both interracial groups
● Started with the Montgomery bus boycott
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● Civil Rights and Voting Rights Act was passed after violence in Birmingham and Selma
was televised
○ Broad lobbying coalition
■ Liberals, labor, and northern religious groups
○ The coalition fell apart almost right after
The Black Power Movement and the Transformation from Movement to Interest Group Politics
The Origins of the Black Power Movement
● Watt’s rebellion led to revolts in most large Northern cities
● SNCC laid out groundwork at Meredith March
The Dual Impact of Black Power: Radicalism and Reform
Radicalism
● Huey Newton and Black Panther Party
● Ron Karenga and the US
● Imari Obadele and the Republic of New Africa
● Collapsed in the 1980s due to factionalism, infighting, and political repression by the
FBI, army, and police
Reform
● Integration or incorporation of blacks into the routine interest group structure of
conventional American politics
● Ultimately appealed to race group consciousness, solidarity, and independent, all-black
interest group organizations
Black Power and Race Group Solidarity
● Increased black group identification and solidarity
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● Peaked in 1968
Black Power, Black Groups, and System Incorporation
● Increase in new, racially exclusive interest group organizations
○ National Black Political Convention
● 1966-1969: more than 70 new organizations formed
● Congressional Black Caucus
● Served as a model for other excluded groups
New Movements in African American Politics: Values and Beliefs in the Post-Civil Rights Era
The “#BlackLivesMatter” Movement
● Started in 2013 after murdering of Trayvon Martin
● An ideological and political intervention in a world where Black lives are systematically
and intentionally targeted for demise
● An affirmation of Black folks’ contributions to this society, our humanity, and our
resilience in the face of deadly oppression
● Mostly on social media
● Further gained traction in 2014 after murdering of Michael Brown
● Portrayed positively in Black media
9/29 Class Discussion
Discussion of Documentary: Eyes on the Prize
● Black liberalism is different from white liberalism because white liberals invest in
everything that America stands for, while Black liberals like the idea of America, but
disagree with the specifics
● Ideology arises out of concrete circumstances
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● Different value system
○ Value of white lives vs black lives
● White people formed NAACP
● White people first formed the abolitionist movement
○ Didn’t allow black people into the movement
● Political parties want to gain power, while political movements want to influence society,
and potentially the political parties
● Link fate
○ The fate of black people is linked together
■ Black people vote in mass for the democratic party
● Many people disagreed with children being in marches
● Black political culture is very nonlinear
● Always been distrustful of the state’s rights
○ Jim Crow laws
● Men are products of their circumstances
● Capitalism arose out of slavery and, in its purest sense, is racist
10/4 Class Discussion
Documentary: Citizen King (first part)
● September 15, 1963: Bombing of Birmingham, Alabama church, which resulted in the
death of 4 little girls
○ Shortly after the I Have a Dream speech
○ A great example of white backlash
● November 22, 1963: JFK assassinated
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● November 25, 1963: LBJ calls MLK
● Early January 1964: LBJ hosts MLK at the White House to attempt to befriend the
movement
● 1965: LBJ signs Voting Rights Act
● J. Edgar Hoover was the leader of the FBI
○ More liked than most U.S. presidents
○ Did not like MLK
● MLK was the leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
● “Peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education, and culture
for their minds, and dignity and equality for their spirits”
● Gun purchases skyrocketed around the country
● Never realized how much of a toll leading the movement took on King
○ Not talked about in schools
10/6 Class Discussion
Documentary: Citizen King (second part)
● July 12, 1966: Chicago has a riot
○ Leads to MLK coming to the city and preaching nonviolence
● Cicero March
○ King was hit in the head with a brick at this march
○ Cars were lit on fire
○ “It is one of the worst situations I have ever been in”
○ “One of the most tragic situations I have ever been in, and I have been in
Alabama and Mississippi”
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● No national response to marches in Chicago
● MLK was active for 12 years
○ I had no idea he was active for this long, seems like the Civil Rights movement
only happened for 5 or 6 years
● Vietnam War happening at the same time
○ Many people did not believe King was entitled to speak on this topic, and thought
he should stick to civil rights
■ The two should not be combined
● “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”
● “At the heart of racism, the idea is that a man is not a man”
● “It is a crime for people to live in this rich nation and receive starvation wages”
● Poor People’s Campaign
● Robert Kennedy was killed shortly after, which slowed the movement
● Great Society
Reading: Chapter 7: Interest Groups
● Not many black interest groups until the 1970s
Black Groups, the “Black” Agenda, and the Problem of Resource Constraint
● Agenda-rich, but resource-poor
● Seven-Point Mandate
○ Included rights-based items
■ Busing for purposes of school desegregation and contract set-asides for
minority businesses
○ Material-based, nonracial issues
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■ Universal health insurance and full employment
○ Hasn’t changed much over the years
● The size of the membership and budget is very important
○ Formation of PACs
■ Raise money for campaigns
African American Women and the Quest for Universal Freedom
● Intersectionality makes things more confusing
● Black women regularly excluded from both race and gender movements
● Roots in the early Antebellum era
● 1832: Salem Female Anti-Slavery Society
● National Association of Colored Women (1896)
● National Council of Negro Women (1935)
● Concentrated on working-class grassroots activism seeking to improve living conditions
● 1973: National Black Feminist Organization
● 1974: Combahee River Collective
● 1976: National Coalition on Black Civic Participation
● 1984: National Congress of Black Women
● 1990: African-American Women for Reproductive Freedom
The State of Black Nationalist Movements
● The American system is incapable of delivering universal freedom or equality
● The main goal shifted from emigration to community separation
● Entrepreneurism heavily valued
● Nation of Islam
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○ a Muslim religious and political organization founded in the United States by
Wallace Fard Muhammad in 1930. A black nationalist organization, the NOI
focuses its attention on the African diaspora, especially on African Americans
○ Louis Farrakhan, one of the main leaders of this movement, lost prominence by
2007
● 1995 Million Man March
○ a large gathering of African-American men in Washington, D.C., on October 16,
1995
○ Called by Louis Farrakhan, it was held on and around the National Mall
○ The National African American Leadership Summit, a leading group of civil
rights activists and the Nation of Islam working with scores of civil rights
organizations, including many local chapters of the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People (but not the national NAACP) formed the
Million Man March Organizing Committee
○ The founder of the National African American Leadership Summit, Dr. Benjamin
Chavis Jr. served as National Director of the Million Man March.
Reading: Chapter 8: Political Parties
African Americans and the American No-Party System
● The two-party system has never worked for African Americans
○ Represents a form of institutional racism, designed to marginalize black interests
by keeping slavery off the national political agenda
● Free Soil and Liberty parties from the 1840s-1860s
● African American rights/freedom were not seen as important until the Civil War
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African Americans and the American One-Party System: 1868-1936
● Republican Party
○ Reconstruction amendments, Freedmen’s Bureau
○ Had over 80% of the black vote until 1936
● Compromise of 1877
○ Rutherford B. Hayes pulled troops out of the South
○ Republicans abandoned blacks after this time
African Americans, Limited Party Competition, and the Balance of Power, 1936-1964
● 1936: first time blacks vote majority Democrat
● The black vote solidified for Democrats by 1945
● The black vote was influential during this time
○ The vote still somewhat split due to past Republican ties
The Collapse of the New Deal Coalition and the Return of the One-Party System
● Collapsed due to racism
○ White Southerners left to form their party
■ Dixiecrats
■ Supported Barry Goldwater, George Wallace, and Richard Nixon
● Racial identification determines Democratic partisanship
● Two conditions under which Obama became president
○ Blacks democratize the Democratic party and universalize access to the
nominating process
○ Jesse Jackson’s campaigns in 1984 and 1988
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The Democratization of the Democratic Party and the Role of African Americans
● Challenge by the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party to all-white delegates
○ Led to requirements for proportional representation in caucuses
■ Caucuses became more popular to follow these requirements
● Fairness Commission made to ensure delegate allocation was correct
○ Super delegates
■ an unpledged delegate to the Democratic National Convention who is
seated automatically and chooses for themselves for whom they vote
● Often representatives or other people higher up
Race and the Polarization of American Politics
● The most consequential cause of party polarization is race
● Asymmetrical
○ Republicans are more ideologically right than Democrats are ideologically left
The Jesse Jackson Campaigns: Implications for the Obama Campaign
● Did not expect to win
○ The main point was to exercise “leverage” on the party and its nominee
■ More progressive politics and “rainbow coalition”
● Created delegate allocation requirements that helped Obama win
The 2008 Primaries and Caucuses
● Obama used social media, small donations, and deracialization
○ Had overwhelming African American support
○ Oprah Winfrey most influential celebrity endorsement
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Race and Gender: The Challenge to Identities and Loyalties
● No gender gap in black voting behavior
● The black community initially supported Clinton, then switched to Obama
The 2008 and 2012 General Elections
● The financial crash of 2008 made it easier for Obama to win
○ Race wasn’t as influential this time around
● McCain attempted to “otherize” Obama
● Ballot-box blackness and ballot-box racism
● 2012 campaign relied on making Romney look bad
● Asian American vote is important for the “rainbow coalition”
10/18 Class Discussion
● Social movements are when people come together around particular issues, and there is
no structure
○ Happen when people want a change in the system or status quo
○ Do not care about running the government or bringing candidates
○ Big changes in society
○ Abolition movement
■ Made up mostly of white people because there weren’t too many free
blacks, but blacks did participate
● Fredrick Douglass
● Interest groups are concerned with looking after/representing particular interests of
groups in society
○ Similar to social movements, but look after particular interests
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■ Women’s organizations, business organizations, youth organizations, racial
organizations
○ Want to influence the government
● Political parties are concerned with providing candidates and running for office to run the
government
● Up until the 1960s, social movements were about obtaining rights that African Americans
were denied but other people had
● Civil rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by
governments, social organizations, and private individuals
○ They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of society
and the state without discrimination or repression.
● Civil liberties are those freedoms that are granted to citizens in the Constitution
○ Found in the Bill of Rights
■ Not originally in the Constitution, were added later to make states agree to
the Constitution
■ Thomas Jefferson was the main proponent of saying that the Constitution
did not guarantee any rights
● Two parts of the civil rights movement
○ The 1870s-1950s
○ The 1950s-1960s
■ Led by MLK
● Came to an end due to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights
Act of 1965
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○ Troops were sent into Southern states to ensure that Black people were allowed to
register to vote
○ The first black representative was Mayor Stokes from Cleveland, Ohio
● The end of the civil rights movement led to the black power movement
○ Empowering African Americans economically, politically, and culturally
○ Rights without power do not amount to change
○ Could blacks get power on their own? Or did they need to join a coalition with
other groups?
○ Challenged white liberals who had supported the civil rights movement
■ They were only willing to give so much and stopped supporting
■ Spending money on programs such as affirmative action
■ Want gradual reform, but not a complete change of the system
○ Wants fundamental change
● Rights give you the same advantages as a citizen
○ Voting, free speech, bearing arms
● Power is the ability to participate in society fully
○ Representation in government, ability to contribute monetarily, black holidays
○ Sometimes you have to give up certain things to obtain power
○ Election of black representatives, affirmative action allowed for the creation of a
black middle class because they could obtain an education and get a
higher-paying job allowed for limited black power
■ Limited because there is no generational wealth
● Surplus money
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● Watts Rebellion
● Dr. King got involved with workers’ rights towards the end of his life (economic issues
more broadly)
○ Better pay and working conditions
■ Economic rights
● Poor People’s Campaign
○ Highlighted poverty, was carried out after MLK’s death
○ After his death, they went to Washington and marched against poverty
● MLK also protested against the Vietnam War
○ America is spending billions of dollars on a war, but not spending even a fraction
of that on poverty
○ “It didn’t cost this country one penny to integrate the lunch counter, but the war
will cost this country millions of dollars”
○ The linkage between war and poverty
○ Became very unpopular as a result of this view
● Universities are where revolutions are made
● A coalition is a coming together of groups with similar interests
● Ross Perot ran as an independent in 1992 and got 20% of the popular vote, but no
electoral votes
● The American political system was only made to accommodate two parties
○ This was a big reason that black people can’t form their party, which means they
engage in transactional politics
● No party system until the 1930s
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○ Neither party cared about African Americans
● Limited two-party system from the 1930s-1960s
○ Both groups cared about African American Rights
● One-party system from the 1960s to present
○ Democrats
● Trump used Southern Strategy
● Deracialization
○ If blacks want to win statewide and countrywide, they have to stay away from
racial issues, leaders who are associated with race
○ Obama used this strategy heavily in 2008
● Biden won because of the black vote
○ Same thing with the two senators from Georgia
● Economic wealth has become the civil rights issue of this time
First Five Civil Rights Groups
● The first major civil rights organization was NAACP
○ Formed in 1905 by W.E.B DuBois
● National Urban League
● Congress for Racial Equality
● Southern Christian Leadership Council
● Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
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10/20 and 10/25 Class Discussion
Documentary: Black Power, White Backlash
Video: Black Panthers Revisited
How did the black power movement differ from the civil rights movement?
● The civil rights movement focused on having society see black people as equals, while
the black power movement focused on attempting to give people the tools to exercise the
rights they have earned through the civil rights movement
○ Economic power
○ Cultural power
What were the major elements of the movement?
● Cicero, Illinois
○ Eventually will become the Selma of the North
● Fought for integrated housing and the equal opportunity to own/buy a home
○ Build generational wealth
● Economic power
● Fighting against police brutality
● Political ideology most closely aligned with black nationalism
○ Link fate
■ Stokely Carmichael: “If you touch one, you touch all”
Who were the major personalities of the movement?
● Everyone on this list agrees that black people have a distinct experience of chattel slavery
which makes them have some of the same experiences
○ Despite this, they do have their thoughts and culture within
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● Stokely Carmichael
○ Wanted to be more direct with white people, which will force them to be violent
○ By all means necessary
■ If violence is part of that, then so be it
○ Saw white people as inherently violent
● Adam Clayton Powell
● Daniel Watts
● Martin Luther King
○ Inherently nonviolent so white people can be violent
○ By one means necessary
○ Doesn’t see white people as inherently violent
○ “Whitening” and “blackening”
■ People associate him with what race they want when they want to
● Huey Newton
○ Black Panther Party
● NAACP
● Daniel P. Monyiam
● Lews Harris
○ Public opinion analysis
● Malcolm X
● Marcus Garvey
○ Father of the black nationalist movement
○ Inspired Malcolm X
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What was the effect of the black power movement on white public opinion?
● They feared riots and violence as a result of the marches
● White backlash
○ Whenever there is (a movement for) change in the black community, there is
(usually) an extreme white reaction
■ Rise in hate crimes after Obama was elected president
Other Notes
● “Black power” coined by Stokely Carmichael
● Some of the things white people believed are crazy
○ Thinking black people are inherently messy
○ Seen as undesirable neighbors simply because of their skin color
● Police treated black people the same no matter where they were
● J. Edgar Hoover (leader of the FBI) saw the Black Panther Party as the top internal threat
to the nation
● Black ideology has to do with both sameness and diversity
○ W.E.B. DuBois
■ double consciousness
● Within the mind of black people, there is the outside view of how
white people view blackness and how black people view
themselves
■ Used to be an integrationist, then believed in Pan-Africanism, then became
a black communist
■ Ended up renouncing black citizenship
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● Racial suicide
○ Stepping into the mind of African Americans and getting their perspective on
slavery
● Internal slave trade
○ Once slaves were prohibited from being brought in, they would trade slaves
within the states
● “Breeders”
○ Black women slaves were forced to bear children as young as 12 or 13
○ Had as many children as they could before they were unable to
● Black Panther Party initially had a huge emphasis on self-defense
● Angela Davis
○ Smuggled a weapon into a prison that was used by 3 African Americans to kill a
prison guard
● When Trump questioned Obama’s citizenship, he was not only questioning Obama but
the whole concept of black citizenship
10/27 Class Discussion
● All ideologies are now forced to grapple with feminist and environmentalist views
○ This became a problem within this generation
● Two major black leaders at the turn of the 20th century were Booker T. Washington and
W.E.B. DuBois
○ DuBois
■ Very hopeful in the beginning
■ Talented 10
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● Elite in the black community should be educated and use their
education to go back into their black community to elevate it
● Howard is an example of this
○ Top HBCU in the country
■ Black liberalism
○ Washington
■ Accept second-class citizenship
■ Learn a trade
● Not focused on the academic type of education
■ Tuskegee Institute
■ Seen as the “Uncle Tom” of the black movement
● “Lift yourself by your bootstraps”
■ Black conservatism
○ The conflict between the two thinkers
● Montgomery Improvement Association
○ Wanted to fight Rosa Parks’ arrest for not getting up on the bus
○ MLK was asked to lead this
■ Chosen because they figured he was bright
● Fits into DuBois’ Talented 10
Origins
● Workers and working conditions
○ Labor unions/labor unionists
● Went around the world and saw the condition of workers
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○ All were poverty stricken
○ Black workers everywhere shared the same kind of struggle
○ The problem is not workers, but blackness
○ Not just the oppression of workers, but the oppression of workers because they’re
black
■ Race and class
● Most influenced by Booker T. Washington
● Visionary
● Seen as a prophet of the Rastafarians
○ Selassie is the diety
○ 3 prophets: Marcus Garvey, Bob Marley
Ideology
● Resolved issues between race and class
○ Became race leader
● “Race First”
○ Race is the most important thing in people’s lives
● Black Separatism
○ White racism in America will never go away, so black people should separate
themselves from white people while in America
○ Black people should unite
■ Black unity
○ Black people should rely on themselves
■ Black self-reliance
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○ Black people should have pride in themselves
■ Black self-love
○ The ultimate resolution involves going back to Africa and forming their
government
● Embrace DuBois’ ideology overall
○ Did embrace Washington’s idea of black people uplifting themselves
● Begins to preach black nationalism because both DuBois (black liberalism) and
Washington (black conservatism) did not align with his views
○ No integration, separate
● Internationalist outlook led to Pan-Africanism
○ Globalization of black nationalism
■ Overarching
○ Essentially globalization
■ Globalization is a new designation for an old obscenity
● Slavery, black labor, stealing of native land, European expansion
Organizations
● United Negro Involvement Association
● Negro World
● Black Star
● Rastafari
Documentary: The Story of Marcus Garvey
● Black Nationalist leader
● Founded Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA)
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○ Emphasized blacks associating with and supporting other blacks
○ Unite jamaica’s black population through racial pride and working to improve
education and social standing
● Was born on August 17th, 1887
● Moved from England to Jamaica
○ Kingston
○ Had first racist interaction at the age of 14 in Jamaica
● Traveled to many different countries
○ Nicaragua, Puerto Rico
● Went back to England at 25 years old
○ Allowed him to learn that no matter where in the world, all black people were
bonded by similar events
■ Slavery
● Pan-Africanism
○ The belief that all black people throughout the world are one people with Africa
as their common ground
○ Must rescue Africa from its colonial occupiers
● The best way to relate to other races was to become one as a race
● Wanted to free African Americans from dependence on white employers
● Published Negro World
○ Globally distributed newspaper
● Created the largest movement before the civil rights movement
○ At least 500,000 members
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■ Could have been as many as 2 million
○ Many more supporters
● Introduced black solidarity
● Declaration of Negro Rights
● Thought that black people would not be able to overcome challenges in the western
world, so black people should move to Africa
● Believed that Klan represented the true feelings of most white Americans toward blacks
● Independent Black Nation of Ethiopia
○ Eventually was invaded by Italian troops
● Died in 1943 at just 53 years old
● “The single most important figure in African American history”
11/1 Class Discussion
● Black nationalist tendency
○ Stokely Carmichael
○ They like socialism because it has a message of equality
● Strong socialist/Marxist element
○ Most black power leaders embraced some form of marxism
● Marxism is a body of work by German philosopher Karl Marx
○ Studied France, England, and Germany and how capitalism impacted their
societies
○ The major argument is that capitalism is anti-working class and that the working
class would rise and overthrow capitalism
○ Would bring into being socialism
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● Major phases of communism
○ Primitive communalism
■ Everyone works together and lives in communes
○ Classical slavery
■ Tribes would fight and the spoils of war would be people from the tribe
that was conquered
○ Feudalism
■ People moved from being slaves to serfs
○ Capitalism
■ Came about as a result of increasing technology
■ Will exploit the workers, which means the workers will rise and move to
socialism, where everyone will be equal and there will be no exploitation
● No classes or inequalities
■ Things will eventually go back to how they were at the beginning
● Socialism is an economic system/theory about how to distribute common resources
● In America, capitalism is linked to race
● Black feminism intersects race and class
● Black Marxists have to argue for both race and class
● Black power lasted through the 1970s
○ Hip-hop emerged from this movement
● 1973 (Jimmy Carter was president during this time)
○ Oil crisis
○ Watergate
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○ End of the Vietnam War
○ Multiple governments overthrown
■ Iran held the embassy workers hostage as a result of this
● Ronald Reagan followed after Jimmy Carter
○ AIDS epidemic
○ Crack epidemic
○ The black community suffered as a result of his presidency
● Affirmative action
○ Bakke vs. University of California in 1977
■ The white student who applied to go to the University of California
■ LSAT score was better than some minority students who got in
■ Supreme Court agreed with him
● Affirmative action, but not by quotas
○ Reverse racism introduced in this case
○ Law designed to correct the inequities of the past against disadvantaged groups
○ White women benefitted first, then black men
● Push for political power in the 80s
○ Jesse Jackson ran for the presidency in 1984 and 1988
■ First serious candidate
■ Rainbow coalition
● Blacks, Hispanics, white working class, and students
■ Showed the possibility of a black president
○ Shirley Chisholm was the first black person to run for president in 1972
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● Obama ran on deracialization
○ Proved that America is not a color-blind society
● Doug Wilder factor
○ First black governor of Virginia
○ Was 10 points up the day before the election
○ Only up by 0.5 points on the day of the election
Reading: Chapter 9: Voting Behavior and Elections
The Historical and Systemic Dimensions of African American Voting Behavior
● The first election that all African Americans could vote was in 1968
● Only six states allowed “Free” Negroes to vote between the Constitutional Convention
and the end of the Civil War
○ Tennessee, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania all took away the right to vote
during this time
○ New York required ownership of property that was worth at least $200
■ 3 statewide referendums for universal suffrage
● None passed
● Supreme Court cases were crucial in initial victories for voting rights
○ Guinn v. Bell
■ Grandfather Clause unconstitutional
○ Lane v. Wilson
■ Voided single-month registration
○ Smith v. Allwright
■ Outlawed white primaries
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○ Terry v. Adams
■ Eliminated privately administered elections
● Congressional legislation
○ Civil Rights Act
○ Voting Rights Act
● The upward trend in African American voting power was not observed till after 2000
The Election of 2016
The Presidential Candidates and Identity Politics
● First major party nomination of a woman
● The first credible candidacy of a socialist
● Only the second time a candidate from a major party with no prior government or
military experience
● Most ethnically diverse fields of candidates
○ All downplayed their ethnicity during the campaign
The Republican Party and the Nomination of Donald J. Trump
● Trump started building his campaign profile in 2012 after spreading the idea that Obama
was foreign-born
● He was opposed by many conservatives
● He didn’t win using traditional methods
○ Didn’t use ads or other traditional methods
○ Relied on charisma and controversial policies
● The majority of his support came from white, low-income males with only a high school
education
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○ Did well among all categories of white voters
● This follows the trend since the 1960s toward authoritarianism among Republican voters
● The nomination could have been a result of populist revolt and/or white racial
prejudice/white nationalism
The Democratic Party and the Nomination of Hillary Rodham Clinton
● The black vote was central to Clinton’s success
○ Ended up getting 80% of the Black vote during primaries
● Sanders was surprisingly competitive
● Media coverage of Clinton was overwhelmingly negative
The Election of Donald J. Trump
● Both parties had nominated people that were disliked and distrusted by the electorate
● 2016 election had high numbers of “election stress disorder”
● Both sides were accused of sexual assault
● Both sides were investigated by the FBI
○ Clinton regarding emails
○ Trump in regards to collusion with Russians for election
● Clinton was projected to win by a large margin
Race and the 2016 Election
● Race was not heavily discussed by Trump during his campaign
○ Supported things like “New Deal for Black America”
● Clinton had the most progressive race rhetoric since 1972
○ Had to appeal to a diverse electorate
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11/8 Class Discussion
● Voting is one of the most important aspects of political behavior
● African Americans did not vote from 1787-1865
○ The right to vote came with the 15th amendment
● 1865-1876: African Americans were allowed to vote and elected some representatives to
Congress
● Following the Reconstruction period, we went into Jim Crow, in which laws were passed
in the states to prevent African Americans from voting
○ Literacy tests, grandfather clause, white primaries
● Jim Crow laws ended in 1965 with the Voting Rights Act
○ Several court challenges were presented from 1876-1965 to win the right to vote
● Between the birth of the Constitution-1965, free blacks (those who won their freedom
from slavery) were able to vote, although the group was very small
○ Some paid their masters, some were free just because their masters decided to free
them
○ Most of this occurred in the North
■ Even they implemented laws to keep free blacks from voting
● Referendums in New York asking whites if they think free blacks
should vote
○ All 3 times they voted no
● Between 1865 and the 1960 election, most free blacks voted Republican
○ Fought for abolition
■ Abraham Lincoln ran under this party
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○ Party of the North, “progressive party”
● The democratic party was seen as condoning racism because it was popular in the South
● Realignment began in the 1930s with the New Deal proposed by FDR (1932-1946)
○ Many of these programs benefited the poor
■ Since many blacks were poor, they supported these policies
○ Some free blacks began to shift to the democratic party because FDR was
progressive and from the North
● Democrats began to make changes after FDR
○ Agreed with the integration of the armed forces
● Dixiecrats were the Southerners that wanted out of the Democratic party and formed their
party
○ Strom Thurmond was their main candidate
○ Eventually just shifted to the Republican party
○ All of this took place from 1948-1952
● By the 1960 election, free blacks were fully supportive of the Democrats and JFK won
based on two factors
○ MLK was locked up
■ Wanted JFK to use his influence to get MLK out of jail
○ Chicago vote
■ Run by electoral machine
● A campaign that uses bribery and other forms of vote buying to get
votes
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○ Richard Daley and Marion Barry used this in their
campaigns
● 1964 election: LBJ received over 90% of the black vote
○ Civil Rights and Voting Rights acts passed under him
■ Sent federal troops to make sure blacks could register to vote
■ Prohibited southern states from changing voting laws without approval
from the Department of Justice
● 1968 was the first election where blacks could vote without any restrictions
○ “Party switch” was finished
○ Lee Atwater came up with Southern Strategy
■ Focused on overwhelming Southern white vote and half of the Northern
white vote
● The goal was to run up the score of Southern seats
■ With this strategy, only 3 elections were won by Democrats
● Jimmy Carter
○ The first president to appoint blacks to high positions in the
federal government
■ Reverend Andrew Young
● Close to MLK
● Bill Clinton
● Barack Obama
○ Obama only won 11% of the vote in Mississippi in 2008
● Jesse Jackson ran in 1984 and 1988
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○ 1984: won 29% of the delegate
○ 1988: won the democratic nomination
● For Obama’s election, blacks made up a great deal of the delegates for the Democratic
convention
○ 30-40% of the total delegates
● Since then, about ⅔ of African Americans are registered to vote
○ Despite this, only about 55% vote
○ Once they register, they become the most reliable voting bloc in America
■ Within the African American community, black women are the most
reliable
● Blacks have only won 2 governorships
○ Doug Wilder
○ Deval Patrick
● Whites have not gotten to the point where a majority of them will vote for a black
candidate
● 5 black senators
○ Carol Moseley Braun (Illinois)
○ Edward Brook (Massachusetts)
○ Barack Obama (Illinois)
○ Cory Booker (New Jersey)
○ Kamala Harris (California)
● Superdelegates are the leaders of the Democratic party
○ Helped Obama win his nomination in 2008
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● Geraldine Ferraro was the first vice presidential candidate in 1984
● Reagan Democrats
○ Working-class, white Democratic voters from the Midwest
○ 1980 and 1984, they left the Democratic party and voted for Reagan
○ Clinton brought them back in 1992 and 1996
○ In 2016, they voted for Trump
○ In 2020, Joe Biden was able to bring them back
● 3 reasons Obama won
○ Deracialization
○ Joe Biden as vice president
○ Rainbow coalition inspired by Jesse Jackson
■ Roughly 90% of the black vote, 77% of the Hispanic vote, about 70% of
the Indigenous vote, and 40% of the white vote (80% of the Jewish vote,
and 60% of the young white vote)
■ This coalition overturned the Southern Strategy
● Did sort of the opposite
○ Ran up the score on every group except white people
● Obama feared losing some of the African American (specifically Southern Black Baptist)
votes due to supporting gay marriage but got some of the gay Republican votes
Part IV: Institutions
Reading: Chapter 10: The Congress and the African American Quest for Universal
Freedom
Legislation: the general rule of broad application enacted by a broadly representative body
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The Representation of African Americans in Congress
Descriptive representation: the extent to which the legislature looks like the people in a
demographic sense
Symbolic representation: the extent to which people have confidence or trust in the legislature
Substantive representation: asks whether the laws passed by the legislature correspond to the
policy interests or preferences of the people
● Only 138 blacks in the house
○ None until 1870
● Only 9 black senators
○ Only 4 were elected, the rest were appointed
● Low trust or confidence in Congress
Congressional Elections and African Americans
Reapportionment and Redistricting
Reapportionment: allocation of 435 seats in the House among states based on changes in the
population
Redistricting: allocation of seats within a state based on population within each district
● Roughly 700,000 people per district
African American Power in the House
The Congressional Black Caucus: Increasing Size, Declining Solidarity
● Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) first formed in 1969
○ One of the major black interest organizations in Washington, D.C.
11/15 Class Discussion
● The founding fathers didn’t trust people to elect their representatives
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○ People didn’t vote for senators, the state legislatures did
○ The president is indirectly elected through the electoral college
You don’t vote for the president, you vote for electors
● Three types of representation
○ Descriptive representation
■ Does Congress look like America?
● Not true, only 139 representatives have been African American
○ Symbolic representation
■ Does Congress have the confidence and trust of the broad American
society?
● Not true, Congress has the lowest popularity rate
○ Substantive representation
■ Do the policies and the laws that are made by Congress have a positive
effect on the communities they serve? Do they represent the interests of
the communities they serve?
● No, many people do not have their needs met and their interests are
not pursued by their representatives
● Black and African American representation in Congress has increased
○ The first big increase was during the Reconstruction era
■ 10-20 people elected
○ The second increase came after the passage of the Civil Rights Act
○ The third increase came in 1992
● 3 black senators
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○ Cory Booker
○ Tim Scott
○ Raphael Warnock
● 43 house members
● Blacks being concentrated in inner cities has made it easier to elect black representatives
because it creates majority-minority districts
○ Concentrated here as a result of segregation
■ No more de jure (by law) segregation, but now de facto (by fact)
segregation is more present
■ Black people are no longer all together because the Talented 10 DuBois
theorized moved out of the community and now people only have those
not in the Talented Ten to look up to
● Voting Rights Act
● 12 representatives for Arizona in the House of Representatives
● Reapportionment
○ The process by which states are given representatives
○ Works against African Americans
● Reverse migration is taking place in which people are moving from the North back to the
South
● Redistricting
○ When districts are redrawn as a result of the loss/gain of seats
○ Usually, the party that has the majority in the state legislatures is responsible for
redrawing the districts
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○ Has racial implications because minorities tend to live in concentrated areas, so it
is easier to split them up when drawing districts
● Gerrymandering
○ When districts are drawn to give the advantage to one party
■ Often weird shapes
● 51% of speeches given by POC representatives are on race
● 12.8% of speeches given by white representatives are on race
Reading: Chapter 11: The Presidency, Bureaucracy, and the African American Quest for
Universal Freedom
Abraham Lincoln: The Paradigmatic President
Lincoln, Emancipation, and Colonization
● Opposed slavery because it was morally wrong and economically unwise
○ “Free labor on free soil”
● Was still a white supremacist
○ “Inferior in color and perhaps moral and intellectual endowment”
● Wanted to send blacks to Libya and Haiti
The Presidency and the African American Quest for Universal Freedom: From the Revolutionary
Era to the Post-Civil Rights Era
The Revolutionary Era
● The only action against slavery was Jefferson’s decision to end the slave trade as soon as
Constitution permitted
○ Wanted to end slavery altogether
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The Antebellum Era
● No actions were taken in African American quest for universal freedom
The Reconstruction Era
● Andrew Jackson
○ Vetoed civil rights legislation and Freedmen’s Bureau Act
■ Didn’t enforce it after it got passed
● Ulysses S. Grant
○ Freed the one slave he had earlier than he was supposed to
○ Tried to enforce civil rights laws
○ Appointed blacks to federal office for the first time
● Rutherford B. Hayes
○ Compromise of 1877
The Post-Reconstruction Era
● Benjamin Harrison
○ Proposed constitutional amendments to overturn Supreme Court decision
invalidating the Civil Rights Act of 1875
○ Legislation to allow the federal government to enforce African American voting
rights in the South
○ Antilynching legislation
● FDR
○ Didn’t take a stand on any race issues
○ Did pass Executive Order 8802
■ Prohibited discrimination in government employment
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The Civil Rights Era
● Truman
○ Ban on federal employment discrimination
○ Antilynching legislation
○ Proposal to end the poll tax
○ Executive Order 9981
■ Banned discrimination in armed forces
○ Addressed NAACP convention
○ Directed Justice Department to file brief supporting school desegregation
● Eisenhower
○ Appointed blacks to minor positions in administration
○ Brown v. Board
● JFK
○ Civil Rights Act of 1964
○ Appointed blacks to high-level posts in the administration
○ Executive Order 11063
■ Banned discrimination in federal housing
● LBJ
○ 1964 Civil Rights Act
○ Great Society
○ First black in cabinet and on Supreme Court
The Post-Civil Rights Era
● Nixon
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○ Desegregation of southern schools
○ Renewed Voting Rights Act
○ Executive Order 11246
■ affirmative action
○ Family Assistance Plan
● Reagan
○ A 25-year extension of the Voting Rights Act
○ Fair Housing Act
○ MLK Jr holiday bill
● H.W. Bush
○ Vetoed Civil Rights Act
■ Signed the same bill a year later
○ Appointed Clarence Thomas
● Clinton
○ First authentically nonracist, non-white supremacist president
○ Appointed a large number of blacks to high-level administration positions
○ Didn’t eliminate affirmative action
○ First president to visit multiple countries in Africa as part of a job
○ Proposed dialogue on race
● W. Bush
○ Issued guidelines prohibiting racial profiling
○ No Child Left Behind
○ “Faith Based Initiative”
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○ Response to Hurricane Katrina
The Obama Administration
● National health insurance
● Presided over the biggest expansion of poverty initiatives since LBJ
● Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing
● My Brother’s Keeper
Presidential Power and the Federal Bureaucracy
● Presidents prefer to be seen as being forced to act on issues of race and civil rights
The Nature of the Federal Bureaucracy
Bureaucracy: a form of power based on knowledge; multiple bureaus and agencies that
implement or carry out laws and policies on a routine, day-to-day basis
Categories
● Executive Office of the President
● Cabinet departments
● Independent agencies
● Government corporations
● Independent regulatory commissions
Bureaucracies with Race Missions: A Brief History
● Freedmen’s Bureau (1865)
○ Dissolved in 1872
● Commission on Civil Rights (1957)
● Office of Civil Rights Compliance (OCRC) (1960)
● Office of Federal Contract Compliance (OFCC) (1960)
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● Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
● Community Relations Agency (1964)
● MLK Jr. Federal Holiday Commission (1984)
11/18 Class Discussion
● The first period that had primarily to do with African Americans was the period of the
Emancipation Proclamation
○ Came from Lincoln’s power as commander in chief
■ Since this seized the property of southern slaveholders, he violated the 5th
amendment
● Dialectics
○ The equal of opposites
● Lincoln only freed slaves because there was a need to move from slave labor to
industrialized labor
○ Slavery and industrialization are opposed to each other
○ Also had to hold the union together
● Lincoln did not free the slaves
● Lincoln made several deliberate choices
○ America must industrialize
○ The union must be saved
○ Had to be some collateral damage in the process
■ White people had to give up slavery
● Slaves being free and having citizenship meant the South didn’t have as much power to
fight the Civil War because slaves went to the North
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○ Some fought for the Union
● After Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln supported the 13th, 14th, and 15th
amendments
○ These were constitutional, so his ideas had more leverage
● Supported colonization
○ Deportation of African Americans in America
○ Created colonies of blacks
○ White people believed black people were inferior and that they should exist
separately
● Two colonies were Liberia and Haiti
● Lincoln is at best ambivalent about slavery, at worst he is a white supremacist
● Entered into a deal with the South known as Reconstruction
○ Only lasted until 1877 when Johnson drew the troops out of the South if they
would stay in the union
● This created de jur slavery, also known as segregation
● The issue of slavery was dropped until Truman when he desegregated the troops
○ Roosevelt, in his New Deal program, opened up union jobs
■ A. Phillip Randolph had to force Roosevelt to do this by threatening a
march on Washington
● LBJ is the president associated most with progressive black policies
○ Great Society
■ Wanted to end poverty and racism
○ Most of his programs ended up being implemented by Nixon
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■ Affirmative action
● For a long time in America, you could only be white or black
○ Being Hispanic, Asian was not a thing
○ Whiteness is a political construct in the same way blackness is
● Suburbs were considered a melting pot of different European cultures, not all cultures
● Democrats controlled House and Senate for 42 years
● Nixon started War on Crime (this started police brutality because it empowered police to
kill black men because it was seen as fighting crime)
○ Was anti-black because protests and black power organizations were seen as
dangerous to America, so they were prosecuted as crimes
■ Reagan added to this by creating the War on Drugs
● This leads to the police killing of blacks
Reading: Chapter 12: The Supreme Court and the African American Quest for Universal
Freedom
Judicial Appointments and African Americans
● Two black Supreme Court justices were Thurgood Marshall and Clarence Thomas
○ Ketanji Brown Jackson added recently
How Should the Constitution Be Interpreted? Judicial Restraint versus Judicial Activism and the
Implications for Universal Freedom
Judicial self-restraint: justices and judges should look to the intent of the Framers of the
Constitution rather than applying their thoughts
Judicial activism: the Constitution is a living document that is meant to be interpreted
● 1910-1949 (conservative majority) and 1950-1999 (liberal majority)
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Reading: Chapter 13: State and Local Politics and the African American Quest for
Universal Freedom
Black Political Representation and Policy Responsiveness in State Legislatures
Descriptive Representation in State Legislatures
● 1971-2009: African American representation went from 2%-9%
● State legislatures tend to be male, white, well educated with a business background
● Elected from majority-minority districts
● 5 largest black delegations
○ Georgia
○ Mississippi
○ Maryland
○ South Carolina
○ Alabama
● 9 states with no African American legislators
○ Hawaii
○ Idaho
○ Iowa
○ Maine
○ Montana
○ North Dakota
○ South Dakota
○ Utah
○ Wisconsin
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Substantive Representation in State Legislatures
● African Americans are the most cohesive and consistent policy subgroup
● Legislators are more likely to sponsor bills that address black interests
The Republican Dominance of State Politics in the Obama Era
● 3 rights-based issues
○ Gerrymandering
○ Voting laws
■ Photo ID
○ Healthcare access
Local Representation: “Black Regime” Cities and “Black-Belt” Counties
● 9 “black-regime” cities
○ Atlanta
○ Baltimore
○ Detroit
○ Gary, Indiana
○ Newark
○ Richmond, Virginia
○ Washington D.C.
○ Birmingham
○ New Orleans
● “Black-belt” counties
○ Virginia
○ North Carolina
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○ South Carolina
○ Georgia
○ Florida
○ Alabama
○ Mississippi
○ Louisiana
○ Texas
○ Arkansas
○ Tennessee
Part V: Public Policy
Reading: Chapter 14: Domestic Policy and the African American Quest for Social and
Economic Justice
Black Unemployment and Underemployment in Historical and Systemic Context
● A study was done in Philadelphia
○ African Americans excluded from manufacturing jobs
■ Low-paying domestic and laborer jobs
○ Once affirmative action was implemented, jobs began to disappear
Understanding Unemployment and Underemployment in Post-Industrial America
● “Skills mismatch”
○ Available jobs require increasing levels of education and skills that African
Americans disproportionately do not possess
● “Spatial mismatch”
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○ Available entry-level jobs tend to be located outside the central city where Blacks
are located
Reading: Chapter 15: The African American Quest for Universal Freedom and U.S.
Freedom Foreign Policy
African Americans as Foreign Policy Implementers/Managers: The Search for “Black
Nationality”
● 3 methods
○ Be conflictual and confrontational with the State Department
○ Individual initiatives
○ Back-channel technique
■ Insiders passed vital information to elites inside the Black community
Trans Africa: African Americans as Foreign Policy Lobbyists
● First formed in 1978
● Many methods are used to keep constituents informed and engaged
● Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act
● Influenced African dictatorships to become democratic
African American Citizen Diplomats
Citizen diplomacy: diplomatic efforts of private citizens in the international arena for purposes of
achieving specific objectives or accomplishing constituency goals
● Common characteristics
○ Well-known domestic leaders
○ Spokespersons for a specific issue
○ Persons wanting to activate world public opinion
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○ Citizens who want to reshape American foreign policy
The Foreign Policy of the First African American President
● Not much different from predecessors
11/29 Class Discussion
● Radicals believe in transformational change
○ Black radicals
● Warren Court ruled on Brown vs. Board of Education
The United States Supreme Court
● Supreme Court is a legal system but has lots of politics behind it
○ The book considers it a political system because the president makes the
nomination and the Senate approves it
● Perhaps the most important branch of Congress
What is the central role of the United States Supreme Court?
● To determine the constitutionality of laws passed throughout the United States
● This power was decided by Marbury vs. Madison
○ Adams appointed a bunch of people at the last minute, but not all of the
appointments were delivered in time
○ Madison refused to deliver some of the appointments, which led to Marbury suing
because he believed that he had the right to serve
○ It was found that Marbury had the legal right to serve
What is judicial review?
● When a court hears a case and decides if that law is constitutional
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Current Supreme Court
● 2 black justice currently, 3 in total
○ Thurgood Marshall
■ Lead lawyer in Brown v. Board
○ Clarence Thomas
○ Ketanji Jackson Brown
● 1 Latinx justice
○ Sonia Sotomayor
● 4 women are currently on the bench
○ Ketanji Jackson Brown
○ Sonia Sotomayor
○ Elena Kagan
○ Amy Coney Barrett
● Currently 6-3 leaning conservative
○ Amy Coney Barrett
○ Neil Gorsuch
○ Brett Kavanaugh
○ Ketanji Jackson Brown
○ Sonia Sotomayor
○ Clarence Thomas
○ John Roberts
○ Elena Kagan
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12/1 Class Discussion
● For capitalism to work, you must have at least 4% unemployment
○ There must always be some people that are prepared to work but not currently
employed
● About 20 million white people are unemployed and 4 million black people are
unemployed
○ Has links to crime, healthcare
○ 6-7% in society, but 20% for blacks
■ In the inner city, it can get up to 30%
● When slavery ended and industrialization rose, there was a transition from unskilled labor
to skilled labor
○ This meant that it was hard for African Americans to get jobs because they only
had unskilled labor
● New Deal focused on creating jobs again after the Great Depression
○ Put the government in the business of creating jobs
● Once people got jobs, they were able to afford homes
○ This created the middle class
● A. Philip Randolph, a black union leader, went to FDR and asked for jobs to be available
to African Americans
○ FDR told him that he would have to be forced to do it
○ The threat of March on Washington made FDR do it
● African Americans joined the workforce 30-40 years after white people, putting them at a
disadvantage
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● March on Washington in 1963 was a result of the march A. Philip Randolph (executive
leader of the march) threatened in the 1930s
○ Was a march for jobs in addition to a march for rights
● 30% of American families live below the poverty line
○ Making less than $18,000 for a family of four
● Not having access to jobs means that people do not have access to good schools, or food,
and are more likely to get sick often
○ All of it is connected to jobs because they are not making as much money
● Police did not need to exist during slavery because the slavemasters acted as the police in
a sense
● Black families have been affected by systemic racism
● Wealth is different from income in the sense that it encapsulates both your income and
your assets
○ Homes, cars, and other items that have value
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