The Attitudinal Structure of African American Women Party Activists: The Impact of Race, Gender, and Religion

• DOI: 10.1177/106591290305600209
• Author: Rosalee A. Clawson,John A. Clark
• Published date: 01 June 2003
• Date: 01 June 2003
• Subject Matter: Articles

The Attitudinal Structure of
African American Women Party Activists:
The Impact of Race, Gender, and Religion
ROSALEE A. CLAWSON, PURDUE UNIVERSITY
JOHN A. CLARK, WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
Using data on grassroots party activists in the South, we explore the attitudinal structure of Democratic
activists. Because of their socialization experiences with both racial and gender discrimination, we hypothesize
that African American women will have a unique attitudinal structure regarding racial and gender issues when
compared to other activist subgroups. Our results indicate the importance of race, gender, and the black
church for understanding the structure of African American women’s political attitudes. Unlike whites or black
men, African American women locate issues of race and gender on a single dimension; whether abortion atti-
tudes fit on that dimension depends on the religious involvement of these activists.
Political parties in the United States are characteristi- the intersection of race and gender, yet often that space is
cally permeable, allowing new elites to enter into
ignored or subsumed by the interests of black men or white
party activity (Baer and Bositis 1988). Since the pas-
women. Too often, empirical political scientists have treated
sage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965, African Americans
race and gender as if they are mutually exclusive without
have had the opportunity to take advantage of this perme-
considering the multiplicative effects of those categories.1
ability and as a result have dramatically changed the Demo-
Therefore, we focus on black women party activists as a
cratic party in the South. For example, the number of
unique social grouping. We argue that the structure of their
African American elected officials in the South grew from
policy attitudes emerges from their lived experiences with
less than 100 to nearly 5,000 between 1965 and 1990 and
racism and sexism.2 Specifically, we use confirmatory factor
to more than 6,000 ten years later (Darling 1998: 157; Bosi-
analysis to demonstrate that black female activists differ
tis 2002). The vast majority of these officeholders are
from other race and gender groupings in the organization of
Democrats. The black electorate overwhelmingly supports
their policy attitudes. We maintain that black female
the Democratic party and its candidates, reshaping the
activists were shaped by three important factors: the civil
southern wing of the party from a conservative past to a
rights movement, the women’s movement, and the black
present that more closely resembles the rest of the nation.
church. Each of these forces must be considered in order to
In earlier research, we examined the impact of black
appreciate the role of black women activists as agents of
mobilization on Democratic party organizations in the
party change.
South (Clawson and Clark 1998). We found, not surpris-
ingly, that the mobilization of blacks into party activity
POLITICAL PARTIES, SOCIAL FORCES,
moved the Democrats in a liberal direction, especially on
AND AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN
racial issues. Women activists, too, are distinctive on issues
directly affecting women. The African American women
In contrast to their counterparts in other democracies,
activists at the nexus of these two patterns are especially dis-
political parties in the United States are characterized by
tinct in their attitudes and in their impact on the Democra-
their high levels of adaptability and permeability. Reichley
tic party (Clawson and Clark 1998).
(1992) argues that the specific policy views of the parties
In this article, we explore further the distinctiveness of
change with considerable frequency as new issues arise in
black female activists within the Democratic party in the
the public consciousness. Aside from platforms, parties
South. Understanding the political behavior of black
reinvent themselves as ambitious politicians attempt to
women requires an appreciation of their unique status
within the political system. Black women occupy a space at
1 There are some notable exceptions. For example, see Barrett (1995);
Baxter and Lansing (1983); Calhoun-Brown (1999); Darling (1998); Gay
and Tate (1998); Githens and Prestage (1977); Harmon-Martin (1994);
NOTE: An earlier version of this article was presented at the 2000 Annual
Harris (1999); Ovadia (2001); Ransford and Miller (1983); Simien
Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago. We
(2001); and Wilcox (1990).
2
would like to thank panel participants Fred Harris and We n d y
While most analysts focus on the content of policy attitudes, the struc-
Smooth for their helpful suggestions on this re s e a rch. Also, we
ture—that is, the way those attitudes are related to one another—is
a p p reciate the insightful comments of Jay Barth and Evelyn Simien.
important for understanding the development of issue coalitions in
political parties (Bruce, Clark, and Kessel 1991; also see Clarke, Feigert,
Political Research Quarterly, Vol. 56, No. 2 (June 2003): pp. 211-221
and Stewart 1995).
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POLITICAL RESEARCH QUARTERLY
address the problems inherent in a representative democ-
important because they often stimulated grassroots activities
racy (Aldrich 1995). As the political system evolves, so too
to which the formal leaders had to react.
do the parties adapt to meet new challenges and provide
For example, Robnett (1997: 75) refers to Ella Baker as
structure for the political system.
a “professional bridge leader” due to her extensive leader-
The adaptability of U.S. parties is a reflection of the ease
ship experience within the civil rights movement. Baker was
with which new entrants can enter into party activity. This
a catalyst for the creation of the Student Nonviolent Coor-
high degree of permeability yields a party that “is an open
dinating Committee (SNCC) and was widely respected and
structure” where “tenure is unstable” (Eldersveld 1964: 11).
thus quite influential within the organization, but she
New activists enter the party when candidates, issues, or
received less public recognition for her role than did male
opportunities attract them.
SNCC leaders. Others, like Rosa Parks, Fannie Lou Hamer,
While the costs of entering into party activity are not
and Daisy Bates, gained notoriety as heroic individuals
high, there may be barriers designed to prevent part i c i p a t i o n
rather than organizational leaders. Without their efforts, and
by members of certain groups. For Baer and Bositis (1988:
those of countless other women, the movement would not
90), the test for a democracy is “whether it produces libert y
have achieved the results that it did.
for all groups and whether elites are re c ruited from all
Civil rights activists set their sights on obtaining power
g roups.” Social movements provide one mechanism for the
within the Democratic party. In 1964, the Mississippi Free-
f o rmation and development of new elites; a social movement
dom Democratic Party challenged the all-white Mississippi
enables members of an out-group to work their way up w i t h i n
delegation to the Democratic party’s national convention.
their own gro u p and achieve elite status. If a party system is
This challenge, along with other pressure from the civil
democratic, then these new elites will be re c ruited into the
rights movement, led to rules changes that significantly
power stru c t u re of the parties. Thus, even though power is
i n c reased the re p resentation of minorities and women
consolidated in the hands of a few activists, the party system
among Democratic party delegates (Walters 1988). In 2000,
is democratic because all groups in society are re p resented in
blacks made up 21 percent of the Democratic national con-
its coalitional stru c t u re (Baer and Bositis 1988).
vention delegates, and black women in particular consti-
Three sets of social forces are crucial to understanding
tuted 12 percent of the Democratic delegates (Scruggs-Left-
the entry of African American women into the Democratic
wich 2002).3 Similar gains occurred at the grassroots level
party: the civil rights movement, the women’s movement,
of the party. By 1990, 13 percent of local Democratic party
and the black church. They are not unrelated phenomena,
officials in the South were African American. Nearly half
and many participants in each had their roots in one or both
became active in politics between the passage of the Voting
of the others. Each of these streams of influence provided
Rights Act in 1965 and 1979 (Clawson and Clark 1998).
opportunities for black women to develop their voices as
While this proportion is significantly below the black per-
leaders and organizers. For some, the experience led them
centage of the southern electorate, it represents a marked
into Democratic party activism.
improvement over a relatively short period of time.
The Civil Rights Movement
The Women’s Movement
The civil rights movement transformed the political
The goal of equality fostered by the civil rights move-
landscape in the South and elsewhere. Within the region,
ment was not lost on organizers of the women’s movement
the reintroduction of blacks to the electorate instigated a
(Giddings 1984). Both white women and black women
massive realignment of the Democratic and Republican par-
faced discrimination within the civil rights movement, and
ties. The Democratic party, for years the bastion of segrega-
these experiences motivated them to organize on their own
tion, became...