The Tie That Binds: Identity and Political Attitudes in the Post-Civil Rights Generation

Chapter 1. Introduction

Introduction This is a book about what it means to be black, specifically, what it means to be black to members of a generation who many hoped would never have to ponder such a question. It is also a book about how answers to this question influence this generation’s political attitudes. The perspectives of the young men and women in this book are critically important as the debate about the political effectiveness of racial solidarity versus coalition-building rages on.Will race continue to be a powerful and effective determinate of political outcomes ? Has integration allowed the post–civil rights generation to build a bridge across the racial chasm in this country? According to the members of the post–civil rights generation featured here, the power of race to divide communities, destroy friendships, and determine opportunity has not been diminished.Racial segregation continues in the midst of integrated institutions—parallel universes of black and white. Occupants of the black universe are the subjects of this book, and their perspectives are the foundation of this portrait of post–civil rights experiences. Earlier works on race, class, and gender explored similar issues. E. Franklin Frazier () described and analyzed the evolution of the black family in America, including the development of class divisions. Frazier explained how social conditions throughout history—slavery, rural life, and the great migration to northern cities—resulted in cultural adaptations that allowed African-Americans to construct stable societies. The present work, too, indicates that black people are still finding ways to adapt to social conditions that meet the human need for acceptance and validation. The conditions, limitations, and opportunities of city blacks in the post–World War II era were studied by Drake and Cayton ([] 1  ). Relationships with whites, discrimination, political attitudes, school integration, and the sharing of public spaces were the phenomena they analyzed.Much of what they found—mistrust of whites and discomfort around whites—will be found here. Recent work by Feagin and Sikes () on the black middle class describes the nature of discrimination faced by blacks who are in majority -white settings. Parents of small children speak about the lack of books by and about blacks in school libraries, and the reluctance of teachers and librarians to advocate inclusion of these books. Black college students talk about subtle and not-so-subtle humiliations suffered at the hands of white professors. Black professionals talk about being shut out of the informal social circles that can help pave the way to success. Feagin and Sikes focus on the experience of racism in a variety of arenas. This work extends that focus to include the relationship between the experience of racism, the development of black identity, and the formation of political attitudes. Race remains highly effective as a political wedge. Yet at the same time, political liaisons based on shared racial group membership are being criticized from many different quarters. For example, the need for gerrymandered electoral districts to increase opportunities for black residents to elect black representatives has been judged unconstitutional in many states, which implies that representation of blacks need not mean black representatives.1 What is really being contested here is the significance of racial group identity and the viability of a unique black experience. In other words, if serving an African-American constituency does not require any special knowledge or understanding about African-Americans as a group, it follows that AfricanAmericans do not have any needs particular to their group.Anyone is capable of representing their interests. A question around which much racial tension has accumulated of late is whether affirmative action is still necessary or justified. Are African-Americans so subjugated and disadvantaged as a group that extraordinary measures should be taken to ensure equal opportunity ? If the decisions and behavior of the individual determine life chances and experiences, then racial policies should be abandoned. But if racial group membership, despite the decisions and behavior of  | Introduction the individual, does affect life chances and experiences, then racial policies remain necessary. Additionally, members of this group may indeed have a deeper comprehension of the social and political dynamics of the group, and may use this knowledge to better serve them. This is not to suggest that members of other groups are constitutionally incapable of serving a black constituency, only that the reality of black group identity makes black representation meaningful. Despite strident commentary from whites and...