For all the strategic calculations, sophisticated voter targeting and relentless talk about electability in Iowa and New Hampshire, the Democratic presidential nomination will be determined by a decidedly different group: black voters. African Americans will watch as mostly white voters in the first two contests express preferences and winnow the […] Read more »
White Liberals Have Moved to the Left of Black Voters
… For decades, African Americans have been an outsize segment of the Democratic base, all but defining the leftmost ideology of the party. Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, the Congressional Black Caucus et al. may have been to the left of the average black voter (depending on the state), but at […] Read more »
The Year’s Racial Flare-Ups: Signs of the Future or Signs of a Last Gasp?
This year has seen disturbing flare-ups around issues of race, immigration, and white nativism generally. … Does the rising tide of worry mean that the nation is descending into a maelstrom of racial conflict? More likely, we are seeing the kind of fearful and angry reaction that major social change […] Read more »
Americans show spotty knowledge about the history of slavery but acknowledge its enduring effects
Americans have spotty knowledge of central facts about the history of slavery in the United States, although younger adults have an edge over their elders, according to a Washington Post-SSRS poll. Even so, a solid majority say the legacy of slavery affects American society today, including majorities across racial, partisan […] Read more »
Black Democrats are split along generational lines
A new national Fox News poll finds that among black Democratic primary voters, former Vice President Joe Biden is their first choice for the party’s presidential nomination at 37%. He is followed by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders at 18%, California Sen. Kamala Harris at 10% and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren […] Read more »
10 Major Social Changes in the 50 Years Since Woodstock
The young people who assembled at the Woodstock music festival in August 1969 epitomized the countercultural movements and changes occurring in U.S. society at the time. One commentator described the three-day event as “an open, classless society of music, sex, drugs, love and peace.” The “open” display of these activities […] Read more »