Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Although they have garnered popular notice as both outspoken rebels and racial sell-outs, very little scholarly attention has been devoted to contemporary African American Republicans. This paper examines the factors associated with Republican affiliation among African Americans. Specifically, the paper explores whether African American Republicans have lower levels of racial identification. Using data from the 1996 National Black Election Study, the findings suggest racial identification alone is not a good predictor of partisan choice among African Americans. Furthermore, outside of age, individual level factors are not strongly correlated with Republican affiliation among African Americans. The findings suggest that future research must be sensitive to the possibility that the political relevance of racial identity might vary across members of the same racial group, and turn attention to the processes through which racial identification becomes relevant for political decision making.