Black Christians And Black ‘Nones’ Show Little Ideological Divide

[Michie]

This Forum is a place for respectful discussion and debate of political issues, by Roman Catholics, in the context of the Roman Catholic Faith.


(ANALYSIS) There are a number of narratives that have emerged from the 2020 election season, many of which will take years to fully unpack. One of the most important actually began to take root in December 2017 when Alabama held a special election to fill the Senate seat vacated by Jeff Sessions who became Attorney General in the Trump administration. Alabama, one of the most conservative states in the nation, elected a Democrat (Doug Jones) to a statewide office for the first time in 25 years.

The reason for the victory was quickly attributed to the African-American community who turned out in large numbers for the Democrats. This same thread has run through coverage of the 2020 presidential election, when Joe Biden bested Donald Trump in Georgia. Observers noted that the deep history of civil rights activism in the state energized the African-American base to repudiate the Trump presidency. That bore out again on Jan. 5, 2021 when the Democrats won both Senate run-off elections in the state, defeating two Republican incumbents.

Continued below.
Black Christians and Black ‘Nones’ Show Little Ideological Divide

 

[A_Thinker]

This Forum is a place for respectful discussion and debate of political issues, by Roman Catholics, in the context of the Roman Catholic Faith.


(ANALYSIS) There are a number of narratives that have emerged from the 2020 election season, many of which will take years to fully unpack. One of the most important actually began to take root in December 2017 when Alabama held a special election to fill the Senate seat vacated by Jeff Sessions who became Attorney General in the Trump administration. Alabama, one of the most conservative states in the nation, elected a Democrat (Doug Jones) to a statewide office for the first time in 25 years.

The reason for the victory was quickly attributed to the African-American community who turned out in large numbers for the Democrats. This same thread has run through coverage of the 2020 presidential election, when Joe Biden bested Donald Trump in Georgia. Observers noted that the deep history of civil rights activism in the state energized the African-American base to repudiate the Trump presidency. That bore out again on Jan. 5, 2021 when the Democrats won both Senate run-off elections in the state, defeating two Republican incumbents.

Continued below.
Black Christians and Black ‘Nones’ Show Little Ideological Divide

Descendants of oppressed people take that oppression very seriously ...

 

[Michie]

This seems to be a case where race matters much more than religion. Looking through the lens of partisanship, ideology, primary vote choice and policy positions, it’s clear that Black Americans are strongly unified on the left side of the political spectrum. However, it would be inaccurate to describe them as liberals. A majority of them reject that label and their policy positions bear that out. They take moderate stances on issues like immigration and gun control. But as Reverend Warnock, John Ossoff, Doug Jones and Joe Biden can attest, when they turn out, they can make all the difference for Democrats on Election Day.

Ryan Burge is an assistant professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University, a pastor in the American Baptist Church and the co-founder and frequent contributor to Religion in Public, a forum for scholars of religion and politics to make their work accessible to a more general audience. His research focuses on the intersection of religiosity and political behavior, especially in the U.S. Follow him on Twitter at @ryanburge.