Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Black Politics: How Anger Influences the Political Actions Blacks Pursue to Reduce Racial Inequality

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Political Behavior Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Although Blacks are homogeneous in their support for racial equality, research shows that they are conflicted about the political strategies their group should adopt to advance its interest. At times, Blacks rely on racial group specific behaviors (e.g., working on behalf of Black organizations) to alleviate racial inequality, while at other instances they depend on non-racial group specific behaviors (e.g., working on behalf of the Democratic Party). What is unclear from the literature are the conditions under which Blacks engage in behaviors that specifically help their racial group over actions that are more universalistic in nature. We argue that experiencing anger about race should boost Blacks’ participation in donating to indigenous Black organizations and protesting rather than giving to universalistic organizations and voting. To test our expectations, we utilize a lab experiment and a national survey experiment. The findings show that feeling angry about race increases Blacks’ willingness to donate to Black organizations and protest. We also find that angry Blacks, highly supportive of Black community nationalism, are the strongest participants in these types of actions. Meanwhile, Blacks who feel angry about race are not more engaging in non-racial group specific acts.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. We define Black organizations as organizations and movements that seek to specifically empower Black Americans. These include but are not limited to Black political organizations such as the NAACP or Black Lives Matter. They also include Black social organizations such as Black churches and Black sororities and fraternities.

  2. According to a 2015 NBC/Survey Monkey/Esquire poll, a majority of Blacks reported feeling angry about the police violence directed at Blacks.

  3. The random assignment of subjects to conditions was successful: there were no significant differences across cells of the design in the proportion of socio-demographic or partisan variables.

  4. The news stories are presented in Figs. 7, 8, and 9 in the Appendix section.

  5. The reliability of the coders was fairly high: Cronbach’s alpha for anger = .73 and hope = .66.

  6. We ran a simple t-test to see if these differences were statistically significant. Relative to the control condition, the test shows that subjects in the anger condition (t-statistic = 3.95, p ≤ .001) mention anger at a significantly higher rate.

  7. Black nationalists, in the anger condition, are not more likely to express anger than Blacks who are not nationalists (β = .187, p = .77). We find a similar result to the emotion induction task in study 2.

  8. Davis and Brown (2002) find that Black nationalism falls on one dimension instead of two dimensions. The difference between their results and Brown and Shaw’s (2002) findings largely stems from the use of different measures (Carey 2013).

  9. We recode the scale into three equally distributed categories to reflect low, medium, and high nationalism.

  10. The donations and protest variables are coded where don’t know = 0. When we exclude the don’t knows from our analysis, the results are essentially the same.

  11. The regression coefficients are in Table 4 in the Appendix section. The baseline is the control condition. We exclude the hope condition from the analysis.

  12. The predicted probabilities are calculated by manipulating the emotion variables while holding all the other independent variables at their observed values in the data and then averaging over all of the cases.

  13. We were unable to calculate the interactive effect for donating to the DNC. There was not enough power because some of the cells were empty.

  14. Given that there is a general tendency to overreport intention to vote and given that Blacks tend to overreport turnout at even higher levels than other racial groups (Jenkins et al. 2017) it is quite possible that we do not observe a treatment effect on vote intention due to ceiling effects.

  15. In our sample, there is substantial variation on age (25% were 18–34, 46% 35–54, 29% were 55 and over), gender (58% female), partisanship (70% Democrat, 22% Independent, and 8% Republican), and education (22% high school degree or less, 37% some college, 40% college graduate). However, Blacks in our sample are more likely to have a college degree than Blacks in the national population.

  16. In wave 1, 671 respondents participated. Our re-contact rate for wave 2 was 66%. Several subjects were dropped from the analysis because they failed to follow proper instructions. The results are essentially the same if these respondents are included.

  17. Respondents were not actually given the opportunity to donate to these organizations. We informed participants in the debriefing that this question was a hypothetical scenario. Even so, 70% of respondents decided to donate and 30% of participants choose not to donate. Participants considered our measure as a valid form of participation.

  18. The prompt for the control condition states “Now we would like to know your thoughts about Race-Relations in the United States. These thoughts could be about experiences that have occurred in the past or will happen in the future.”

  19. The reliability of the coders is high: Cronbach’s alpha for anger = .91 and hope = .85.

  20. We ran a t-test to see if these differences are statistically significant. Relative to the control condition, the test shows that subjects in the anger condition (t-statistic = 7.98, p < .001) mention anger at a significantly higher rate. They also mention anger at significantly higher rate than subjects in the hope condition (t-statistic = 13.56, p < .001).

  21. The differences between the hope condition and the control condition (t-statistic = 10.98, p < .001) and anger condition (t-statistic = 13.88, p < .001) are statistically significant.

  22. For the three dependent variables, we included respondents who did not want to donate to any of the organizations in the analysis. They are coded as 0. When we exclude these respondents (no donations) from the analysis, the results are essentially the same.

  23. The OLS regression coefficients are in Table 5 in the Appendix. The baseline is the control condition.

References

  • Ai, C., & Norton, E. C. (2003). Interaction terms in Logit and Probit models. Economic Letters,80, 123–129.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aminzade, R., & McAdam, D. (2001). Emotions and contentious politics. In R. Aminzade, J. Goldstone, D. McAdam, E. Perry, W. H. Sewell Jr., S. Tarrow, & C. Tilly (Eds.), Silence and voice in the study of contentious politics (pp. 14–50). New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Averill, J. R., Catlin, G., & Chon, K. K. (1990). Rules of hope. New York: Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Banks, A. J. (2014). Anger and racial politic: The emotional foundation of White racial attitudes. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Banks, A. J., & Valentino, N. A. (2012). Emotional substrates of White racial attitudes. American Journal of Political Science,56, 286–297.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bledsoe, T., Welch, S., Sigelman, L., & Combs, M. (1995). Residential context and racial solidarity among African Americans. American Journal of Political Science,39(2), 434–458.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Block, R., Jr. (2011). What about disillusionment? Exploring the pathways to Black nationalism. Political Behavior,33(1), 27–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bower, G. H. (1981). Mood and memory. American Psychologist,36(2), 129–148.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brambor, T., Clark, W. R., & Golder, M. (2006). Understanding interaction models: Improving empirical analyses. Political Analysis,14(1), 63–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, R. A., & Shaw, T. C. (2002). Separate nations: Two attitudinal dimensions of Black nationalism. Journal of Politics,64(1), 22–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carey, T. E., Jr. (2013). The dimensionality of Black nationalism and African-American political participation. Politics, Groups, and Identities,1(1), 66–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davis, D. W., & Brown, R. E. (2002). The antipathy of Black nationalism: Behavioral and attitudinal consequences of an African American ideology. American Journal of Political Science,46(2), 239–253.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dawson, M. C. (1994). Behind the mule: Race and class in African-American politics. Princeton University Press.

  • Dawson, M. C. (2001). Black visions: The roots of contemporary African-American political ideologies. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Folkman, S., Lazarus, R. S., Gruen, R. J., & DeLongis, A. (1986). Appraisal, coping, health status, and psychological symptoms. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,50(3), 571–579.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frijda, N. H., Kulpers, P., & ter Schure, E. (1989). Relations among emotion, appraisal, and emotional action readiness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,57, 212–228.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gay, C. (2004). Putting race in context: Identifying the environmental determinants of Black racial attitudes. American Political Science Review,98(4), 547–562.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grier, W. H., & Cobbs, P. M. (1968). Black rage. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Groenendyk, E. W., & Banks, A. J. (2014). Emotional rescue: How emotions help partisans overcome collective action problems. Political Psychology,35(3), 359–378.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gurin, P., Hatchett, S., & Jackson, J. S. (1989). Hope and independence: Blacks’ response to electoral and party politics. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris, F. C. (2012). The price of the ticket: Barack Obama and the rise and decline of Black politics. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Harris-Lacewell, M. V. (2004). Barbershops, Bibles, and BET: Everyday talk and Black political thought. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jenkins, C., White, I. K., Hanmer, M. J., & Banks, A. J. (2017). Vote overreporting while Black: Identifying the mechanism behind Black vote overreporting. Unpublished Manuscript.

  • Kam, C. D., & Franzese, R. J., Jr. (2007). Modeling and interpreting interactive hypotheses in regression analysis. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lazarus, R. S. (1991). Emotion and adaptation. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, T. (2002). Mobilizing public opinion: Black insurgency and racial attitudes in the Civil Rights Era. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lerner, J. S., & Keltner, D. (2001). Fear, anger, and risk. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,81(1), 146–159.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mackie, D. M., Devos, T., & Smith, E. R. (2000). Intergroup emotions: Explaining offensive action tendencies in an intergroup context. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,79, 602–616.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marcus, G. E., Neuman, W. R., & MacKuen, M. (2000). Affective intelligence and political judgment. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McKenzie, B. D. (2014). Political perception in the Obama era: Diverse opinions of the great recession and its aftermath among Whites, Latinos, and Blacks. Political Research Quarterly,67, 823–836.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • National Association for Advancement of Colored People. 2014–2015 Annual financial audit report. Mitchell and Titus, LLP.

  • Nunnally, S. C. (2012). Trust in Black America: Race, discrimination, and politics. New York: New York University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, R. C. (1996). We have no leaders: African Americans in the post-Civil Rights Era. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, C. A., & Ellsworth, P. C. (1985). Patterns of cognitive appraisal in emotion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,48(4), 813–838.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snyder, C. R. (1994). The psychology of hope: You can get there from here. New York: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tate, K. (1994). From protest to politics. Boston: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tausch, N., Becker, J. C., Spears, R., Christ, O., Saab, R., Singh, P., et al. (2011). Explaining radical group behavior: Developing emotion and efficacy routes to normative and nonnormative collective action. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,101(1), 129–148.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tiedens, L. Z., & Linton, S. (2001). Judgment under emotional certainty and uncertainty: The effects of specific emotions on information processing. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,81, 973–988.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ture, K., & Hamilton, C. (1967). Black power: The politics of liberation. New York: Random House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Valentino, N. A., Brader, T., Groenendyk, E. W., Gregorowicz, K., & Hutchings, V. L. (2011). Election night’s alright for fighting: The role of emotion in political participation. Journal of Politics,73(1), 156–170.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Valentino, N. A., Gregorowicz, K., & Groenendyk, E. (2009). Efficacy, emotions, and the habit of participation. Political Behavior,31(3), 307–330.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Zomeren, M., Spears, R., Fischer, A. H., & Leach, C. W. (2004). Put your money where your mouth is! Explaining collective action tendencies through group-based anger and group efficacy. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,87(5), 649–664.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White, I. K. (2007). When race matters and when it doesn’t: Racial group differences in response to racial cues. American Political Science Review,101(2), 339–354.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Heather Hicks and Julian Wamble for excellent research assistance, and the workshop attendees at Princeton University, Stanford University, the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Maryland, and the National Capital Area Political Science Association for helpful feedback. The data and replication code can be found at Political Behavior’s Dataverse webpage.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Government and Politics Department, University of Maryland, 3140 Tydings Hall, College Park, MD, 20742, USA

    Antoine J. Banks

  2. Political Science Department, Duke University, 140 Science Drive 208 Gross Hall, Durham, NC, 27708, USA

    Ismail K. White

  3. Washington, D.C., USA

    Brian D. McKenzie

Authors
  1. Antoine J. Banks
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ismail K. White
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Brian D. McKenzie
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Antoine J. Banks.

Appendix

Appendix

See Figs. 5 and 6 and Tables 4, 5 and 6.

Fig. 5
figure 5

Study 1 manipulation check

Full size image
Fig. 6
figure 6

Study 2 manipulation check

Full size image
Table 4 The effect of the anger condition on political action
Full size table
Table 5 The effect of the anger condition on donating to Black organizations and universal organizations
Full size table
Table 6 Average level of contribution to each organization
Full size table

Experimental Manipulation

See Figs. 7, 8, and 9.

Fig. 7
figure 7

Anger condition

Full size image
Fig. 8
figure 8

Hope condition

Full size image
Fig. 9
figure 9

Control condition

Full size image

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Banks, A.J., White, I.K. & McKenzie, B.D. Black Politics: How Anger Influences the Political Actions Blacks Pursue to Reduce Racial Inequality. Polit Behav 41, 917–943 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-018-9477-1

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-018-9477-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation