{"id":109748,"date":"2016-02-29T10:46:27","date_gmt":"2016-02-29T15:46:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=109748"},"modified":"2023-06-27T12:07:36","modified_gmt":"2023-06-27T16:07:36","slug":"african-american-women-could-be-decisive-on-super-tuesday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2016\/02\/african-american-women-could-be-decisive-on-super-tuesday\/","title":{"rendered":"African-American Women Could Be Decisive on Super Tuesday"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>This opinion piece was first published in <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/african-american-women-could-be-decisive-on-super-tuesday-55423\">The Conversation<\/a>. Minor edits have been made to reflect the date of publication on UConn Today, after the South Carolina primary.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>As the Democratic nominating contest speeds up, African-American voters \u2013 especially women \u2013 have some tough, and influential, choices to make.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"grey-sidebar floating-sidebar col-xs-12 col-sm-4\">\n  <\/p>\n<h3>About the Expert<\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/evelyn_simien-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 200px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 200\/300;\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Evelyn Simien<br \/>\n860 486-3254<br \/>\n<a href=\"mailto: Evelyn.Simien@uconn.edu\"> Evelyn.Simien@uconn.edu <\/a><\/p>\n<p>Simien, associate professor of political science and a member of the faculty for Africana Studies, is an expert on African American politics, public opinion and political behavior.<\/p>\n<h3>Noteworthy<\/h3>\n<p>Her first book, &#8220;Black Feminist Voices in Politics,&#8221; examined black feminist consciousness and its effect on political behavior using national survey data. In her second book, &#8220;Gender and Lynching: the Politics of Memory,&#8221; Simien focused on African American women who suffered racial-sexual violence at the hands of lynch mobs in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Most recently, Simien published &#8220;Historic Firsts: How Symbolic Empowerment Changes U.S. Politics,&#8221; which considers whether candidates like Shirley Chisholm and Jesse Jackson as well as Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama mobilize voters through emotional appeals while combating stereotypes and providing more inclusive representation.<\/p>\n<h3>Education<\/h3>\n<p>Ph.D. in Political Science, Purdue University<\/p>\n<p>M.A. in Political Science, Purdue University<\/p>\n<p>B.A. in Political Science, Xavier University<\/p>\n<p><\/aside>\n<p>South Carolina was the first primary where African Americans are the majority of Democratic voters, controlling <a href=\"http:\/\/fivethirtyeight.com\/features\/south-carolinas-black-democrats-are-powerful-but-what-do-they-want\/\">55 percent<\/a> of the vote. That made South Carolina a battleground for black votes, especially those of African-American women.<\/p>\n<p>We know that victories in early primaries are important. Later voters often pick their candidate based on early primary outcomes. With Super Tuesday just ahead, the South Carolina primary is perhaps as important as the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries, because it may create momentum in subsequent contests where black votes will help candidates win.<\/p>\n<p>As someone who has been researching this topic for the past 15 years, I believe both candidates are attractive to African-American voters.<\/p>\n<p>These voters could perceive Sanders as better equipped to handle issues related to social welfare, unemployment, and poverty, as well as affirmative action.<\/p>\n<p>What may have solidified black support for Clinton is a series of symbolic gestures. Perhaps the most influential is the latest campaign ad targeting black mothers who lost their children to violence. These symbolic appeals convey a knowledge of growing discontent in the African-American community, while also expressing concern for racial justice, which could be sufficient to capture the black vote.<\/p>\n<p><strong>A critical voting block<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>African-American voters are the <a href=\"http:\/\/jointcenter.org\/sites\/default\/files\/Blacks%20and%20the%202012%20Democratic%20National%20Convention.pdf\">most loyal supporters<\/a> of the Democratic Party. Their support for Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore was 90 percent in 2000. In 2004, they voted for John Kerry by 88 percent. Barack Obama won an all-time high of 95 percent in 2008.<\/p>\n<p>According to exit polls, black voters were 13 percent of the national electorate in 2008. They represented approximately one in every 4.25 Obama voters that same year.<\/p>\n<p>Sixty-five percent, or 15.9 million, of voting-age African Americans cast a ballot in the general election, compared to 66.1 percent of white citizens. But, the voter turnout rate among eligible black female voters was 68.8 percent \u2013 the highest of all racial, ethnic, and gender groups in the 2008 American presidential election. Especially in southern states with large black voting-eligible populations \u2013 including South Carolina, Mississippi, Georgia, North Carolina, and Louisiana \u2013 the black female voter <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pewhispanic.org\/2009\/04\/30\/dissecting-the-2008-electorate-most-diverse-in-us-history\/\">outperformed<\/a> in terms of registration and turnout.<\/p>\n<p>Since 1996, this gender gap has been <a href=\"http:\/\/www.census.gov\/library\/publications\/2013\/demo\/p20-568.html\">consistently present<\/a>. African-American women voted at higher rates than African-American men by a range of 7 or 8 percentage points in 2008. That rate was even higher \u2013 about 9 percentage points \u2013 in 2012, which is 6 percentage points higher than other racial groups.<\/p>\n<p>But during the primary, when two choices are available, will African-American women vote for Sanders or Clinton?<\/p>\n<p>To answer that, it helps to look at past presidential primaries. Historically, African-American women have supported the candidate perceived as best representing their interests \u2013 whether or not that candidate has a chance to win the nomination.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Shirley came first<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The election of Barack Obama in 2008 made American history, but prior campaigns paved the way, starting with Shirley Chisholm in 1972 and Jesse Jackson in the 1980s.<\/p>\n<p>Some have forgotten, or are unaware, that Jesse Jackson won the South Carolina primary twice \u2013 in 1984 and 1988. In 2008, then-Sen. Obama\u2019s win in South Carolina brought Jackson\u2019s run 20 years previously back into the spotlight.<\/p>\n<p>Rich with symbolic meaning and electoral consequence for future presidential hopefuls, Chisholm and Jackson demonstrated the progress African Americans made in the aftermath of the \u201cprotest phase\u201d of the civil rights movement.<\/p>\n<p>Understanding that black votes could mean the margin of victory for the eventual Democratic nominee, Chisholm and Jackson pursued \u201cbrokerage politics.\u201d They turned this into the leverage needed to participate in behind-the-scenes bargaining for leadership roles at national party conventions, proposed changes to delegate selection procedures, and eliminating the runoff primary in southern states.<\/p>\n<p>As I argue in my book, <a href=\"https:\/\/global.oup.com\/academic\/product\/historic-firsts-9780199314188?q=Simien&amp;lang=en&amp;cc=us\">Historic Firsts: How Symbolic Empowerment Changes U.S. Politics<\/a>, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are indebted to this pioneer cohort. By being less system-challenging and more ideologically moderate than their predecessors, Clinton and Obama achieved viable electoral success in 2008. They adapted to the changing political landscape, but not without recognizing the importance of key voting constituencies.<\/p>\n<p>Chisholm and Jackson brought formerly inactive people into the presidential selection process and got them involved in ways beyond voting. They sought to build coalitions comprising diverse groups \u2013 from women and racial minorities to the poor \u2013 while appealing directly to African-American voters.<\/p>\n<p>Neither Chisholm nor Jackson really expected to win the Democratic nomination. Rather, they wanted to act as \u201cbrokers\u201d who established the need for the eventual Democratic nominee to move left of center. Observers have since failed to consider the prophetic nature of this intervention.<\/p>\n<p>Without Chisholm and Jackson, Obama could never have had his victory in 2008.<\/p>\n<p><strong>First battleground for black votes<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>So what path then will African-American voters take when it comes to selecting the next leader of the Democratic Party?<\/p>\n<p>If they believe Sanders holds views closer to their own and would be more likely to champion their class interests, African-American women are faced with a dilemma. They are expected to show support for the women\u2019s movement by voting for Clinton, despite the movement\u2019s history of blindness to issues of class. History shows that successes of the movement generally benefited privileged white women who profited from the economic exploitation of black women\u2019s domestic labor.<\/p>\n<p>Race and class identities help shape how one experiences being a woman. African-American women may be more likely to consider themselves part of a movement to combat economic inequalities. Clinton\u2019s candidacy opposite Sanders&#8217; draws attention to the way their intersectional identities can play a role in determining election outcomes.<\/p>\n<p>African-American women, who grapple with a tension between the women\u2019s liberation movement and black freedom struggle, hold the balance of power in several southern states.<\/p>\n<p>Consider the controversial remarks made by Rep. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ibtimes.com\/bernie-sanders-john-lewis-controversy-supporters-attack-civil-rights-leader-twitter-2304563\">John Lewis<\/a> of Georgia, feminist <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/arts-and-entertainment\/wp\/2016\/02\/07\/gloria-steinem-is-apologizing-for-insulting-female-bernie-sanders-supporters\/\">Gloria Steinem<\/a>, and former Secretary of State <a href=\"http:\/\/time.com\/4212577\/madeleine-albright-hillary-clinton-special-place-hell-defends\/\">Madeleine Albright<\/a> over the two front-runners.<\/p>\n<p>The call to support Clinton\u2019s candidacy reflects an assumption that women and African-American voters would and should have a special affinity for the first viable female candidate for the U.S. presidency. Yet the reality of such an affinity, whether it be based on race or gender, is unproven.<\/p>\n<p>That older women have made Clinton their preferred choice in 2016 is significant. What remains unclear is whether that choice is rooted in their shared gender identity or ideological distancing from Sanders.<\/p>\n<p>It is reasonable to assume that the electoral prospects for Clinton have improved since Obama\u2019s victory, which established a precedent for historic firsts. Rather than act as a broker, as did Chisholm and Jackson, Clinton has emerged once again as a viable candidate. Contrary to the conclusion one might draw from the Clinton campaign \u2013 that is, women rather than men would be more likely to support her candidacy \u2013 the real question is: which women?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>UConn political scientist Evelyn Simien argues that African-American women will play a significant role in the choice of candidate in the primaries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":109758,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2226,2306],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[117],"class_list":["post-109748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-clas","category-uconn-voices"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-03 12:29:19","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/58"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109748"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109748\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":109775,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109748\/revisions\/109775"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/109758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109748"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=109748"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=109748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}