Why Political Scientists Don’t Study Black Politics

Why Political Scientists Don’t Study Black Politics

There is a divergence of thought in political science concerning whether the driving forces influencing racial actions in politics are material or ideational. Racial inequality across different spheres of life is undeniably evident but a consensus on the reasons that have made it prevalent in the society has not been achieved. From the white scholars’ perspective, the explanation has revolved around the structural conditions like the laws and economy or the self-interest of those in charge deflecting the blame from a conscious decision to entrench division. Those who study the racial politics consisting of the majority of blacks, on the other hand, regard the contributing factors to the issue as the aspects of ethnic identity and conflict. From the perspective of ethnic divisions, the structural conditions and the racial disparity are then used to explain the structural conditions that have made the perception of divisions in the society dependent on the approach. This paper will explore the aspect of identity politics explaining the reason there is little emphasis on black politics in political science compared to other disciplines.

Institutionalized racism associated with the lack of literature concerning race in political science is a product of unconscious bias and stereotyping that would otherwise qualify as negligence in the article Puzzling place of Race (Smith, 2004). The dearth of literature on topics touching on racial identity is not because there are no writers interested in writing on the subject but that the publishing houses or the peer review mechanism are tilted towards ignoring or downplaying issues raised in the identity politics. Racism behaviors in all spheres of life are associated with the inability by those in charge to reflect on their decisions and cleanse the mindset on the things regarded as important to society. Cognition plays the critical role of determining how people raged others in society and the path they would need to chart in the perception of how they relate to each other. Examining racism through the aspect of cognitive analysis, the element of ignorance concerning the critical issues affecting society arises from the need to categorize self-based on the understanding of others in the community. The understanding of the world leads to the characterization of other races as having the propensity to behave in ways that are out of the norm largely based on stereotypes and misconceptions. While lacking the explicit desire of stirring racial divisions by stratifying individuals, the perceptions of the critical issues affecting society are formed which influence decision making. People raised in such circumstances are therefore likely to tend to downplay or ignore the plight of others in the society or offer justifications regarding how they need to address their issues. When such people are in positions of influencing the literature needed for discourses like political science, they downplay race-related topics and fail to offer a platform to the literature resulting in ignorance of the black plight and failure to publish.

Part of the problem there is a lack of efforts towards mainstreaming the suffering of the blacks by giving it a voice in political science is the realization that identity matters. At the onset of the period when writers feel that they are well equipped to explore a variety of issues, there is an active deterrence towards topics that touch on race issues (Wilson, 1985). Active references to the fact that writings on the topic are not as valued as that on other topics act as a deterrence towards pursuing research on race matters since the publishing journals have a narrower definition of the approaches that lead to better research.

The bulk of the early theories and empirical attitudes concerning racial attitudes are based not in political science but sociology and social psychology. The literature on the two approaches is structured to learn more on the determinants of social fractions in society rather than on the political impacts of the decisions (Hutchings & Valentino, 2004). Policy opinions emerge from social interactions and influencing the way people interact in society ultimately affects their choices in life. Racial attitudes on the policy preferences have been contentious across the years and as such have affected public research on the issues. If the between the race differences were minimal there would be a chance that racial attitudes do not play a significant effect on the policy preferences but across issues like school segregation and spending on programs to assist the minority there is an overwhelming perception that race influences decisions (Swain, 1999). If racial identity affects things that are as basic and important as the pursuit of education and chances in life, then publishing materials on the subjects would equally be affected by the various influences.

In the period of explicit racism mentioned by Smith, the development of race-based analysis actively contributed to the lack of sufficient literature in political science concerning identity. Dominant societies tend to downplay the experiences of the minorities in their midst and the approach permeates itself in the curriculum. The emergence of literature supporting racial diversity in America would only have been expected in the last fifty years. While the education system has consistently produced qualified personnel to explore on race-based issues, the priority for graduating students has not always revolved around race (Preston & Woodard, 1984). The few who have explored on race-based issues have found home writing for sociological journals and associated literature rather than political science for a variety of reasons. Afro-American politics, for example, has not broken sufficient grounds in political science compared to sister disciplines belying the fact that political science has structural barriers compared to the others.

There is syllogism associated with writing for political science on race matters inferring that the discipline is more aligned to the elite in the society compared to others. The political science field is regarded as being aligned towards decision-makers in the society and those who influence sociological, anthropological, civil and legislative issues. Writing on race matters revolves around enhancing the issues of blacks in the community who have historically been deprived of the chance to influence legislative matters in society (Woodard & Preston, 1985). The blacks are more often the victims of the use of power and the emergence of race influence literature likely touches on authoritative decisions of those in charge. There is a higher likelihood of the impoverished people in the society towards shunning structure associated with the elite and with political science being one of them, an escape route towards sister disciplines becomes a necessity. In an adaptation to disenfranchisement, researchers from the minority communities align their perception with that of the churches. A church-based effort fighting domination and disenfranchisement in the society equally focuses its literature from the sociological perspective likely to have more literature on core issues.

A long history of covering race-based issues in the society has used the non-formal and multipurpose institutions in the community like the churches and civil rights movements. The non-formal channels historically associated with previous literature on the emancipation of the blacks written by writers like Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King providing a historical collection across different metrics. In the desire to have a pool of reviewers and readers of research items, writers are more likely to publish their works in databases which accept them and mainstream their positions in the community. Empirical reality and a mismatch between the aspiration of writers and that of political science discipline have resulted in the omission of race-based literature. From the sociological perspective, the need to have literature on race issues has been a dominant thrust in the society which is counter to the political science objective of exploring qualitative arguments. The number of journals therefore in a political science field has a higher likelihood of featuring non-race issues when compared to that of the sociological field. Having marginal acceptability in political science from the decision-makers perspective and that of the readers consigns race literature to the periphery. Political science has a narrow of a focus on subjects not interesting the elite in society and is not the right platform for addressing race issues.

The structure and the pedigree of political science in dealing with social issues in America are not aligned towards mainstreaming minority issues in the community. The race is a social construct and those in charge of making decisions concerning the acceptability of literature in different fields have progressively been influenced by their immediate environment. With the issues of diversity and inclusion becoming exceedingly mainstreamed in the social strata of Americans, the likelihood of race issues having prominence in political science will take hold eventually.