I've spent a lot of time in Black churches, and the one consistent thing is me being surprised. I start to think I understand how the people around me think, then something comes out of someone's mouth that totally undermines my assumptions.
In most political reporting, the Black church comes across as a monolith. While voting habits may have been consistent for a while, based on my experience at least opinions on all kinds of issues are far more all-over-the-map than I encounter in most white churches.
For instance, I know members of the same Black church who are openly opposed to all vaccines and others who are first in line for them and vocally exhort their fellow congregants to do the same. Somehow they stay together in the same building and continue to enjoy each-others' company.
It's fascinating. I have no idea what happens next.
I don’t know if I would classify Black Christians as conservative, but rather, ‘traditional’ is a better understanding. This explains the gap between religious values and voting history. It’s a fact that African Americans hold a traditional view of social issues yet continue to vote Democratic. The farther the Democrat Party get away from these traditional values they can expect continued political hemorrhaging from this traditional and long standing support.
I think you have an error in one sentence in this post: "The Democrat party has moved significantly to the right on social issues"--no, they have moved very far to the left!
I can recall that years ago, Black Americans were described as fiscally liberal, but socially conservative. That may still be mostly true.
It may also be important to remember some history: when they were allowed to vote, Black Americans were solidly Republican from the end of the Civil War until the mid-20th century. They began to move to the Democrats during the New Deal era, and moved much farther after the passage of the Civil Rights Act during LBJ's presidency--which is ironic, since that Act only passed because Republicans in Congress supported it. Johnson couldn't get enough southern Democrats to vote for it. So Black Americans have shifted politically before, and they might do so again. Such shifts do happen, with all people. I am 75 years old and a lifelong student of history. When I was growing up in the 1950s and '60s, the Democrats were the party of the working man. My father was in the UAW. Now, the Democrats still have the union bosses, but most of the rank-and-file of the industrial unions have turned to Trump. In the last election, the Teamsters didn't endorse anyone; the brass still favored the Democrats, but the majority of the membership supported Trump.
Thanks for posting this, Ryan. As a very liberal Christian and voter I am just coming to terms with the discord between how I view politics and how black people do. My recent book readings of The Religion of Whiteness and Faith Unleavened didn’t really address the nuances your charts display.
And I’m reading a young black immigrant’s work in Medium Digest where he has been reporting that politically black MEN, in particular, are beginning to adopt a different view than amalgamizing into American society. One black leader is saying the most successful minority group is Asians who have a higher average median income per household than even whites. They did this by segregating themselves into China towns and supporting one another. He said it doesn’t make any difference whether Democrats or Republicans are in office they are all old white men and will never work to help black society, they will work to keep themselves in power.
Never trust a White Jesus nor a Democrat nor a Republican may be the new mantra of black society.
As Phil says below, I think you mean "The Democrat party has moved significantly to the left."
I made the change about 2 hours ago and the web version reflects that, but for some reason the app doesn't.
I've spent a lot of time in Black churches, and the one consistent thing is me being surprised. I start to think I understand how the people around me think, then something comes out of someone's mouth that totally undermines my assumptions.
In most political reporting, the Black church comes across as a monolith. While voting habits may have been consistent for a while, based on my experience at least opinions on all kinds of issues are far more all-over-the-map than I encounter in most white churches.
For instance, I know members of the same Black church who are openly opposed to all vaccines and others who are first in line for them and vocally exhort their fellow congregants to do the same. Somehow they stay together in the same building and continue to enjoy each-others' company.
It's fascinating. I have no idea what happens next.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7VaXlMvAvk
I don’t know if I would classify Black Christians as conservative, but rather, ‘traditional’ is a better understanding. This explains the gap between religious values and voting history. It’s a fact that African Americans hold a traditional view of social issues yet continue to vote Democratic. The farther the Democrat Party get away from these traditional values they can expect continued political hemorrhaging from this traditional and long standing support.
I think you have an error in one sentence in this post: "The Democrat party has moved significantly to the right on social issues"--no, they have moved very far to the left!
I can recall that years ago, Black Americans were described as fiscally liberal, but socially conservative. That may still be mostly true.
It may also be important to remember some history: when they were allowed to vote, Black Americans were solidly Republican from the end of the Civil War until the mid-20th century. They began to move to the Democrats during the New Deal era, and moved much farther after the passage of the Civil Rights Act during LBJ's presidency--which is ironic, since that Act only passed because Republicans in Congress supported it. Johnson couldn't get enough southern Democrats to vote for it. So Black Americans have shifted politically before, and they might do so again. Such shifts do happen, with all people. I am 75 years old and a lifelong student of history. When I was growing up in the 1950s and '60s, the Democrats were the party of the working man. My father was in the UAW. Now, the Democrats still have the union bosses, but most of the rank-and-file of the industrial unions have turned to Trump. In the last election, the Teamsters didn't endorse anyone; the brass still favored the Democrats, but the majority of the membership supported Trump.
Thanks for catching that error, Phil. I made the change.
Thanks for posting this, Ryan. As a very liberal Christian and voter I am just coming to terms with the discord between how I view politics and how black people do. My recent book readings of The Religion of Whiteness and Faith Unleavened didn’t really address the nuances your charts display.
And I’m reading a young black immigrant’s work in Medium Digest where he has been reporting that politically black MEN, in particular, are beginning to adopt a different view than amalgamizing into American society. One black leader is saying the most successful minority group is Asians who have a higher average median income per household than even whites. They did this by segregating themselves into China towns and supporting one another. He said it doesn’t make any difference whether Democrats or Republicans are in office they are all old white men and will never work to help black society, they will work to keep themselves in power.
Never trust a White Jesus nor a Democrat nor a Republican may be the new mantra of black society.