Multimodal Reader’s Guide: Politics in 

the African American community 

 

 
 
Written and Edited by Jyuana Gray 
 
 
Table of Contents 
Introduction 
Chapter 1 
●Politics in black churches, 
schools, and neighborhoods 
Chapter 2 
●The effects of politics during the 
Civil Rights era, Post-Civil Rights 
era, and the Black protest 
movement 
Chapter 3 
●Politics in the black community 
in 2018 
Conclusion 
References 
  
Introduction 
Politics in the black community is such a necessary topic that people should be able to be open
minded about in order to be a person living in America today. Before reading about politics in
the black community, there are some questions that you should take into consideration, such as:
what influences politics to act the way that do towards minorities, effects of politics on other
communities vs the black community, what factors affect the African American community in
politics, and so on. But, out of all these questions, there is one that needs the most attention: how
do politics impact the black community?

According to ​William E. Nelson and Phillip J. Meranto (1977)​, politics in the black community
started with the black movement in the north during 1960’s. This movement was used as
resources for “black power” in the struggle for liberation in the black community. Minorities
grew frustrated and angry over the slow rate of their social and economic progress as an
oppressed black person.

The goal of this reader’s guide is to focus on how politics has such a big impact on the black
community. I will begin discussing politics in schools, neighborhoods, and churches in Chapter
1: Politics in churches, schools, and neighborhoods. In Chapter 2: The Effects of Politics during
the Civil Rights era, Post-Civil era, and the Black Protest Movement. In Chapter 3: Politics in the
black community in 2018. I chose this topic because I think it’s very important that everyone
know the struggles that the black culture go through as people and what we’ve been through as a
people.

 
Chapter 1: Politics in black 
churches, schools, and 
neighborhoods 

Politics in the black community is more than just the injustices of African Americans; it is also
about the way that it affects churches, schools, neighborhoods, and certain jobs. This chapter will
take a look at how politics has had impact on the black community over the years and how the
same thing has carried over into our churches, schools, and neighborhoods.
1. “​​Black Youth Activism and the Role of Critical Social Capital in Black Community
Organizations​​”​ ​(2007) by Shawn A. Ginwright. ​This article is a study of data collected
from participant observation and interviews of black youth who were members of
Leadership Excellence.
2. “​​Church Culture as a Strategy of Action in the Black Community​​” ​(1998) by Mary
Patillo-Mccoy. ​This article explains how black churches are a major role in the black
community. It explains how social constructionism is used as an analytical approach to
bridge social movement and cultural theory.
 3. “​​Everyday Politics of School Choice In The Black Community​​” ​(2015) by Mary
Patillo. ​This article explains the key themes in black school politics and how politics
work in the world. They decided interview poor and working-class black parents of
Chicago.

In fact, Mary Patillo’s article, ​“​Church Culture as a Strategy of Action in the Black Community​”
she focuses on how the black churches played such a major role in the black community. This
article explains social constructionism; a theory of knowledge in sociology and communication
that examines the development of jointly constructed understandings of the world, and how it’s
used as an analytical approach to bridge social movement and cultural theory. This article does a
good job with comparing the church to real life situations because sometimes people think it’s
okay to mix the world with the church and you can’t do that because that’s not how it’s supposed
to work, if you’re a Christian. The historic participation of black churches during the Civil
Rights era questioned how African American Christianity might represent different approaches
of the relationship between religion and politics based on social and spiritual contexts of black
church life in America.

Shawn A. Ginwright​ (2007) study argues the understanding of how black youth respond, resist,
and work to transform school and community conditions. It focuses on how community-based
organizations in Black communities provide black youth with critical social capital that consist
of intergenerational ties that cultivate expectations and opportunities for black youth to engage in
community change activities. Often times, depending on where you come from, people tend to
already think they have you figured out because you live in a certain neighborhood or because
you might not dress like others. In the black youth community that is one of the major problems
and it soon becomes a problem within the community because some may think they are better
than the other. On the other hand, it’s the same with politics because they go based on statistics
that if you live in this type of neighborhood more than likely you’re going to end up in jail or
never elevate. ​Ginwright ​claims that politics’ reactions when they come to get people to vote for
them depends on how the neighborhood looks. He claims that they are often scared and ready to
leave. I agree with this claim and would add that most of the neighborhoods they go into aren’t
always bad, it’s actually people in those neighborhoods that are good people. For example, I
don’t stay in the best neighborhood but when people come to my neighborhood they always
frown or stay looking outside to make sure nothing has happened to their car(s).

Ginwright​ (2007) note that this study shows how black communities care for their children and
want them to be better than what they see in their community because most of the kids were
members of Leadership Excellence. He also notes that more black communities need programs
like this because it really helps the kids stay out of trouble and it really shows politics that every
black person isn’t “dangerous” or “headed down the wrong path.” The study shows that most
black kids in the program are doing way better in school and at home than the kids that don’t
participate in the programs. This study also includes interviews from 15 children that live in the
community. In each interview they asked a question: “How did politics play a role in creating
these programs?,” and each child responded with the answer: “Politics doesn’t want to see us
succeed so we have to do something to succeed and change their views on us.” Therefore, the
article, ​“​Everyday Politics of School Choice in the Black Community​”​, focuses on
empowerment, control, and agency in the black community and they interview seventy-seven
poor and working-class black parents in Chicago.
This study between the poor and working class black parents in Chicago shows how politics in
America can be deceiving of black people based on their position in America. This study also
exemplifies how the stigma on African-Americans can consider them less than the next because
they don’t make or have as much money. In this study, it shows how the government doesn’t
really supply the low incoming schools with as much supplies as the schools that do have more
money. I would have to agree with this part of the study based on my personal experience
because I went to a low income based school and we didn’t have anything, we barely had
textbooks for all the students to work out of, the teachers didn’t have as many supplies to teach
with, but, at other schools they were supplied with everything. I thought it was very similar to
how it used to be back in the day when the white kids that were in school were provided with
everything while the black kids had the hand-me-downs.
Chapter 2: The effects of politics 
during the Civil Rights era, 
Post-Civil Rights era, and the 
Black protest movement 
 

 
  
During the 1950s and 1960s is when politics started treating minorities at their worst. In these
trying times African-Americans didn’t have the right to vote, they didn’t have the right to be in
the same room as a white person. Politics treated blacks like they weren’t humans and didn’t
have a right to being here on Earth. They made things so difficult for blacks during that time.
1. “​Shall We March On?​​” ​(2008) by Randall D. Swain. ​This article is data collected from
the 1996 National Black Election Study. It focuses on how the extent of the non-electoral
activism during the post-civil era, looking at the attendance rate for political rallies,
signing of petitions, protest, and participation in picketing and boycotting.
2. “​Electing Black Mayors; Political Action in the Black Community​​”​(1977) by
William E. Nelson and Phillip J. Meranto. ​This book is solely focused on the black
protest movement that took place in the north during the 1960s. This book goes really
into depth about black liberation and the impact that it had on colored people back in the
day.
3. “​Back to the Movement 1979–Mid 1980s: Eyes on the Prize—America’s Civil Rights
Movement 1954–1985​​”​ ​(1994) by Films Media Group.​​ This video addresses the
injustices that black people received from the police and the white people during the Civil
Rights Movement. The video includes interviews from people that were apart of the Civil
Rights movement.
4. “​Classed Out: The Challenges of Social Class in Black Community Change​​” ​(2002)
by Shawn A. Ginwright. ​This article talks about the growth in the black middle class
during the Civil Rights movement. It talks about how the Civil Rights movement
spawned a relationship between the black middle class and the black poor.

William E. Nelson and Phillip J. Meranto​ (1977) argues that the black protest movement was
untapped resources for “black power” in the struggle for liberation. This book states that
minorities grew frustrated and angry over the slow rate of their social and economic progress as
an oppressed black person. During the 1950s and 1960s it was very hard for blacks to get into
office due to the fact of everything that had happened over the past years. Also during this time
Jim Crow laws had been put into place. However, during this time every black person had been
working together to get the equalities that they deserved.

There are many things to take into consideration when it comes to a black person and their
injustices, one of them being: slavery. Slavery was one the major starts of black people not being
able to have the same rights as a white person because during that time black people were being
belittled and treated like they didn’t have a reason to be here, but the main focus of slavery was
to make sure that black people were torn down mentally and physically. Even now in 2018 we
are still torn down mentally and physically because they’ve created a system that allows them to
keep us down and not succeed. ​Nelson and Meranto​ ​does a good job addressing how being black
is so hard in America. They claim that politics make it hard for us to get into office because they
don’t really think that we belong or we even have enough knowledge to be in it. They also claim
that even when we do make it into politics it’s still difficult because no one thinks that we can do
the job which is why they start us at the lowest because they don’t think that we have the
strength to elevate. In ​Eyes on the Prize​, one of the interviewees expressed how the government
doesn’t care about the black culture and the only thing that they cared about was finding ways to
keep us the bottom because if they come up it will be seen as a threat.

Therefore, in ​Randall D. Swain’s​ article, he collects data from the 1996 National Black Election
Study, which shows how the extent of the non-electoral activism in the post-civil rights era,
specifically looking at the attendance rate for political rallies, signing of petitions, attendance in
protests, and participation in boycotting and picketing. This data gives a good insight of how
politics worked during that time and how we’ve always been counted out. This article pinpoints
how religiosity in the African-American community works to suppress the non-electoral political
movement. It touches on how black churches play as incubator of an oppositional political
culture because black churches are hypocritical. However, ​Ginwright ​talks about the growth in
the black middle class and the black poor since the Civil Rights movement. Scholars in this
article really focused on understanding how social and cultural capital among the black middle
class sustain the conditions of the black working poor.
Chapter 3: Politics in the black 
community in 2018 
 

Politics in 2018 is very different. Even though we experience the same kind of hate that we did
in the previous years, it’s very different. Now in politics black people have more opportunity to
get the same kind of spotlight that a white person do. But also in politics we still have to fight
our way through to get what we want, but now I think it’s more recognized and our work doesn’t
really go unnoticed to a certain extent. Black people in politics are kind of very different as well
because sometimes they tend to have different political views on things and tend to forget of
where we come from.
1. “The Information Society and the Black Community” ​(2001) by John T.
Barber and Alice A. Tait. ​This book poses questions about egalitarianism and
democracy and the long-standing social and economic inequalities. The book
contains a collection of essays that analyzes the emerging roles of
African-Americans in the post-industrial society from a variety of
communications research perspectives.
2. “​​How does President Trump contribute to the black community” ​(2018) by
Fox News. ​This video is an interview with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s. niece. In
this video she explains how she thinks President Donald Trump has contributed
and made the black community better.

Chapter 2 discussed how politics affected blacks back during the black protest movement, civil
rights movement, and the post-civil rights movement. However, in this chapter we will be
discussing how things have changed and how things have possibly stayed the same. Some
questions you should think about while reading this chapter is: how far have we really
progressed as a culture, are we really progressing, what are things that haven’t changed over the
years?

Barber and Tait’s​ book accepts W.J. Wilson’s theory of socially and economically isolated
African-American underclass. This book goes into depth of giving many perspectives, instead
everything being one-sided. In this book, we got a better understanding of why people feel the
way that they feel. Some essays in the book explained that black people should stop focusing on
the past and what happened to their ancestors and focus on how they can move forward and do
things that will make their ancestors proud. I agree with this claim to a certain extent because I
don’t think that we should stop focusing on the past because the things that happened in the past
is still present now. It may not be as vivid as it was then but us, blacks, being oppressed is still a
thing. Some of the essays explained that it’s okay to let go of the past but we shouldn’t forget it
so much that we forget that it has happened to us and think that every white person is for us.

With that being said, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s had an interview with ​Fox News​ stating how
she felt President Trump has contributed to the black community. In the video she states that
President Trump keeps his promises when it comes to the African American community. I would
have to totally disagree with this because in my opinion he hasn’t done for the African American
community, if anything he has shown that he doesn’t care about us or even this country. This
interview with Dr. King’s niece shows that we as black people can get wrapped up in the little
things that government has done for us. This interview exemplifies that some black people have
gotten so tight with the government that they forget that the government is still set up to see us
fail just a little bit. Also in this video she lacked the knowledge of the past and her argument and
claims were invalid.
Conclusion 
 

 
In the end the African-American hasn’t really progressed as much because we still get treated
like we don’t matter. I say this because the police is still killing us and getting off with it,
African-Americans still can barely get jobs, they still get profiled just by walking down the
street. In our jails get treated like animals and our black men in society still doesn’t get the credit

 
that they should deserve. Women in America still have a hard time getting certain jobs because
it’s considered “manly” or “women aren’t allowed to do this or that.”

 
There is still some things that still need to discussed, explored, and researched. For example,
why do black people feel entitled to impress the white people or why can’t black people all come
together on something without beefing or having havoc. Overall, I hope you guys enjoyed the
topics that were discussed and hopefully you guys got a better understanding of the black
community and politics.
 References  
Barber, J.T., Tait, A.A. (2001). ​“​The Information Society and the Black Community​”

Films Media Group (1994). ​“Back to the Movement 1979–Mid 1980s: Eyes on the
Prize—America’s Civil Rights Movement 1954–1985.”
Retrieved from: ​fod.infobase.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?wID=149262&xtid=58645

Fox News (2018). ​“How has President Trump contributed to the black community”
Retrieved from: ​www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGrQbjaY9pI&t=142s​.

Ginwright, S.A (2007).​“Black Youth Activism and the Role of Critical Social Capital in Black
Community Organizations.”​ ​American Behavioral Scientist,​ vol. 51, no. 3, 2007, pp.
403–418.,

Ginwright, S.A. (2002).​ ​“Classed Out: The Challenges of Social Class in Black Community
Change.”​ ​Social Problems,​ vol. 49, no. 4, 2002, pp. 544–562

Nelson, W.E., Meranto, P.J (1977). ​“​Electing Black Mayors ; Political Action in the Black
Community”.​ Ohio State Univ. Press, 1977.

Patillo, M (1998).​ “Church Culture as a Strategy of Action in the Black Community.”

American Sociological Review​, vol. 63, no. 6, 1998, p. 767

Patillo, M (2015).​ “Everyday Politics Of School Choice In The Black Community.”​ ​Du Bois
Review: Social Science Research on Race,​ vol. 12, no. 01, 2015, pp. 41–71