Draft:Black Women Running for Political Office in the United States

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Black Women running for political office in the United States face a unique battle based on both their race and gender. Black Women are currently underrepresented in the United States elected offices. Black women have been involved in politics since the American Civil War era through many forms of political engagements such as protesting, advocacy, and forming organizations.[1] Black Women have faced issues such as misogynoir when attempting to run for office. Misogynoir has prevented Black Women from being represented in U.S. Politics. Black Women have some of the highest rates of political ambition but are faced with a low demand for Black Women candidates. Black Women's descriptive representation is essential to Black Women and Black voters.[2] The lack of access to political resources has impacted Black Women's decisions and success when running for elected office.[3] Training programs have helped inspire and educate Black Women to that they may go on to run successful campaigns. Black Women such as vice-president Kamala Harris has moved on to higher elected office and has made impacting change for future Black Women candidates. Black Women candidates have typically run grassroots campaigns and, when successful, have moved on to perform highly in politics.

Historical Context[edit]

Harriet Tubman

Black Women and the intersectionality of their identities has been prevalent in their engagement with politics throughout history because of the dual oppressive nature of having to fight for the abolishment of slavery and gender discrimination. Black women were some of the most outstanding leaders of the abolition movement. Famous African American female abolitionists include Harriet Tubman, Sarah Parker Redmond, Elizabeth Freeman, and Frances E.W. Harper. Harriet Tubman, born in Dorchester County, MD, was an American Abolitionist that made multiple rescue missions to free enslaved individuals using a network known as the underground railroad.[4]

Black Women have been at the forefront of the Women's suffrage movement with African American Women such as Sojourner Truth, who gave the 'Ain't I a Women' speech. Truth's "Ain't I a Woman' speech called for equal rights for not just white women but women of color as well.[5] Women were granted the right to vote in 1920, but women of color did not get this right so quickly and still faced obstacles when trying to vote[6] such as literacy test.[7] Both the women's suffrage movement nor the feminist movement did not take intersectionality into account during its progression and focused mainly on the oppression of white women. By not taking intersectionality into account Black Women have been excluded by these movements because they fail to acknowledge the unique oppression Black Women face due to their race and gender.

Shirley Anita Chisholm

Shirley Anita Chisholm was the first African American woman elected to the United States Congress. She represented New York's 12th Congressional District for seven terms from 1969 to 1983. Chisholm became the first black candidate and woman to run for President with the Democratic Party's nomination. Chisholm retired from Congress in 1983. Chisholm was the first Black Woman to occupy a higher position in politics, and she co-founded the National Political Congress of Black Women and the National Women's Political Caucus.[8] Chisholm faced discrimination following her run for Presidential candidacy and, despite her loss, still made strides for African American Women in politics.[9]

Misogynoir in Politics[edit]

Misogynoir is a term that queer Black feminist Moya Bailey coined. Misogynoir has contributed to the lack of Black Women being represented in U.S. politics. Black Women make up less than 3% of U.S. Representatives.[10] Although there has been an increase in the number of elected Black officials, Black Women are still underrepresented at all levels of government. Black women are more active in the political process than Black men but still face discrimination based on gender. Due to misogynoir, black Women are also more likely to experience the Glass Cliff phenomenon.[11]

Black Women Political Ambition[edit]

Black Women have used political participation to achieve equality and improve the status of their group. Their racial and gendered identity has played a role in their political ambition because of the circumstances it has placed them in. Historical figures such as Sojourner Truth and Ida B. Wells are examples of this because the oppressive environment they faced due to their racial and gender identity prompted them to make a change with activism and other forms of engaging with politics.[12]

When looking at political ambition, Black Women are a specific case where they demonstrate high political ambition with a low demand for them to occupy political positions. This is in contrast to white women and Asian women who demonstrate low political ambition and yet are in demand to occupy positions.[13] This is due to many factors including intersectionality, which can both harm and support Black Women trying to occupy positions in politics. In most cases because Black women represent both a racial and gender minority they are the last choice to occupy a political space compared to White women because they are closer to the dominate image of what a political figure should look like. On the other hand sometimes this can help Black Women because they are chosen to represent both groups rather than have two separate representations of racial and gender minority.

Black Women's Access to Political Resources[edit]

Campaign Funding

Black Women in the United States typically have less resources than their other candidates. This is because of many factors, one being that they have less campaign funding. In the United States most political support comes from donors most being lawyers.[14] People tend to support candidates that are similar to them and Black Women make up only 3.17% of lawyers and of that 3.17% only a few occupy positions that pay enough to occur significant wealth in order to donate.[15] There is also generational factors at play because most lawyers are white men that have generational wealth making donating to political candidates they support an option.[16] Black Women do not have the financial capital to support their own campaigns. Black Women are paid 40% less than white men and 12% less than white women.[17] In addition to this 84% of Black Mothers are the primary breadwinner and cannot afford to allocate income towards political campaigns as well has taking away time to engage in politics.[18] This is not because of education levels, in fact Black Women still see a pay gap even in instances where they have a higher education background compared to their white male counterparts. Black Women do not have the same financial background as their white and male candidates.

Political Relationships

Black Women do not have the same political resources such as political relationships and connections due to generational factors. Historically Black Women have not been in a position of privilege nor had access to political communities to form relationships. Black Women must have both voter and party support in order to win elections. Candidates that have relationships with politicians already in office can extent their influence and gain support for their own candidacy.[19] Candidates must have the support of the party in order to receive nomination for higher positions such as Presidency and vice presidency.[20]

Training Programs for Black Women Running for Office[edit]

Political Training programs are made to encourage groups to engage in politics and give them the training necessary to run successful campaigns. Training programs are standard for underrepresented groups such as women and can be specific to subsets of women such as democratic female candidates.

Black women from the 2019 Congressional Black Caucus

Black Women Organized for Political Action (BWOPA) was established in California in 1968. The organization prioritizes encouraging African American Women to engage in politics by focussing on intersectionality. BWOPA has three branches: operations, education, and political advocacy.[21]

The Brown Girls Guide to Politics is an organization that uses an intersection, movement building, and social just lens to educate African American Women, Brown, and Indigenous womxn of color on politics. The Brown Girls Guide to Politics was founded by A'shanti F. Gholar in 2018 and was inspired by her time working in politics and the lack of resources available to women of color interesting in politics.[22]

Black Women in Higher Political Positions[edit]

Black Women are running for political office but are not winning at the higher levels.[23] Black Women historically are not represented in higher political office. As you rise in a political position, the number of Black Women represented decreases.[24] Historically, only two Black women have served in the Senate, Kamala Harris, who was elected in 2016 in California, and Carol Moseley Braun, the Illinois Democrat who served one term in the 1990s.[25] Black Women, as they run for higher political positions, rely more on campaign funding and non-local voter support. Black Women receive a majority of their support from Black Women, and as they aim for higher political positions, they will need support from other demographic as well. Black Women make up less than 2% statewide elected executive offices.[26] Although is still a significant gap between proportion of Black Women representation in state legislature and the population make up there was a record high level of representation in 2021.[27] Black Women have made strides in politics and occupied higher elected offices.

Kamala Harris

Vice President Kamala Harris

Kamala Harris became the first women and women of color to become Vice President in 2021, holding the highest office occupied by a women. Kamala Harris was selected by Joe Biden as his running mate going on to defeat Donald Trump and Mike Pence. Kamala Harris started off as the district attorney of Alameda County. She went on to become the second African American Women to serve on the U.S. Senate. Harris was sworn in on January 20, 2021 becoming the first female, first African American and first Asian American Vice President in U.S. history.[28]

Ketanji Brown Jackson

Ketanji Onyika Brown Jackson serves on the Supreme Court of the United States.[29] Jackson was nominated to the Supreme Court by Joe Biden on February 25, 2022, and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on April 7. As a graduate of Harvard University, Jackson was appointed by President Barack Obama to the United States District Court for the district of Columbia and served as a district judge. She is the first Black Woman to serve on the Supreme Court.[30]

Patricia Roberts Harris

Patricia Roberts Harris (May 31, 1924 – March 23, 1985) was an American politician. She served as the 6th United States secretary of housing and urban development and the 13th United States secretary of health and human services.  Harris was the first African American woman ever to serve in a presidential cabinet and as the United States ambassador.[31]

Campaigning[edit]

Black Women have ran successful campaigns over the years under many different conditions. It is common for some Black Women running for office to run grassroots campaigns. These campaigns are often due to a lack of funding and differ from other candidate campaign that receive donations from large corporations. Funding disparities have played a major role in candidacy success.[32] Black Women such as Natalie James have lost due to facing opponents with vastly more resources.[33]

Cori Bush 117th U.S.Congresswomen

Cori Bush[edit]

Cori Bush is the first Black woman to represent Missouri's First Congressional District; and the first activist from the Black Lives Matter movement to be  elected to the United States Congress. Cori Bush was a resident of St.Louis when the murder of Michael Brown took place. This incident inspired her to engage in politics and run for congress.[34] Bush has ran a grassroots campaign in which she has relied on her community for both financial and voter support. Like many other Black Women Candidate Cori Bush has relied on local level support to enact change.[35] This method of campaigning did eventually lead to success but also resulted in past losses.

Black Women have ran successful campaigns for non-Black Women candidates demonstrating that it Is not Black Women themselves but society's response to them resulting in some losses.[36]

Black Women Campaign Managers[edit]

  • Symone Sanders serves as a senior advisor to former Vice President Joe Biden for his 2020 presidential campaign.
  • Rebecca Pearcey was recruited as Warrens national political director and senior advisor. Percey was regarded as the woman behind Sen. Elizabeth Warren's rise to presidential candidacy.[37]
  • Maya Harris sister to Kamala Harris and senior policy advisor.[38]

Black Women's Performance in Politics[edit]

Performance as Elected Officials[edit]

Black women who go on to elected office are typically more qualified and outperform their male counterparts. Misogynoir makes it to where only the most qualified Black Women could go on to win their campaigns. In addition, Black Women's presence is essential to representing women of color. Black Women represented the largest portion of nonwhite female voters.[39] Black Women are responsible for pushing policy that are seen as both women's issue and Black issues. Black Women legislators are essential for implementing policy that focuses on both women's issues, Black issues, and Issues that take an intersectional approach. A record number of Black Women ran for and won congressional offices in 2020 as well as reaching a record high in state legislative representation in 2021.[40]

Performance as voters[edit]

Black Women are vital to voter turn out and are often seen as the "backbone" of the Democratic Party. More than two thirds of Black Women turned out to vote in 2020 presidential election.[41] Black Women running for political positions often rely on Black Women voters. Black Women are sometimes looked to as leaders to bing in more voters ,which has contributed to them being prioritized when being selected as potential candidates to be endorsed.[42] When running for political positions it is important for Black Women to connect to other voting groups because Black Women make up most of their voter demographic.[43]

Performance as Activist[edit]

Black Women have made political strides as activist apart of social movements in order to call attention to specific issues. Black Women's work with social movements can play a role in their candidacy by offering them political resources such as potential financial aid and publicity.[44]

Black Lives Matter

Black Lives Matter Protest

Black Lives Matters was founded by three Black Women Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi.[45] The movement began as a hashtag on twitter after the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting of 17-year-old African American Trayvon Martin in 2013. Black Lives Matter has gain traction over the years and has put pressure on the government to enact change and policy reform to protect Black lives.[46] Black Women have been some of the biggest supporters of this movement.[47] Black Women such as Cori Bush have received support from social movement like Black Lives Matter leading to them to win their candidacy.[48]

References[edit]

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  2. ^ Rosenthal, Cindy Simon (2000-05-25). "Gender Styles in State Legislative Committees". Women & Politics. 21 (2): 21–45. doi:10.1300/j014v21n02_02. ISSN 0195-7732. S2CID 147924550.
  3. ^ "To protect Black women and save America from itself, elect Black women". Brookings. 2020-07-27. Retrieved 2023-05-04.
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  5. ^ Watson, Laurel B.; Lewis, Jioni A.; Moody, Anahvia Taiyib (2019-12-01). "A sociocultural examination of body image among Black women". Body Image. 31: 280–287. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2019.03.008. ISSN 1740-1445. PMID 30962149. S2CID 104294879.
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  7. ^ Terborg-Penn, R (1998). "African American Women Suffragists". African American women in the struggle for the vote: 1850–1920. Bloomington,IN: Indiana University Press. p. 8. ISBN 978-0-253-33378-0. OCLC 260107480.
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  30. ^ "Jackson confirmed as first Black female high court justice". AP NEWS. 2022-04-07. Retrieved 2023-05-04.
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  35. ^ "Home". bush.house.gov. Retrieved 2023-05-04.
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  41. ^ Moslimani, Mohamad. "Key facts about Black eligible voters in 2022". Pew Research Center. Retrieved 2023-05-04.
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References[edit]

  1. Watson, L. B., Lewis, J. A., & Moody, A. T. (2019). A sociocultural examination of body image among black women. Body Image, 31, 280–287. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2019.03.008
  2. "Shirley Chisholm's 1972 Presidential Campaign". University of Illinois at Chicago Women's History Project. Archived from the original on November 11, 2014.
  3. Crenshaw, Kimberlé Williams. 1989. Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist politics. U. Chi. Legal Forum., pp. 139 - 167
  4. Junn, Jane, and Natalie Masuoka. 2020. "The Gender Gap Is a Race Gap: Women Voters in US Presidential Elections." Perspectives on Politics 18(4): 1135-1145.
  5. ABA Profile of the Legal Profession . Americanbar.org. (n.d.). Retrieved March 27, 2023, from https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/aba-news-archives/2020/07/new-aba-profile-of-the-legal-profession-report-shines-light-on-l/
  6. About: The brown girls guide to politics: United States. The BGG to Politics. (n.d.). Retrieved March 27, 2023, from https://www.thebgguide.com/about
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  9. King, C. (2021, November 9). Black women are shouldering the financial responsibilities for their families. Shape. Retrieved March 27, 2023, from https://www.shape.com/lifestyle/mind-and-body/mental-health/black-women-as-breadwinners-in-america
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  11. Dowe, P. (2020). Resisting Marginalization: Black Women's Political Ambition and Agency. PS: Political Science & Politics, 53(4), 697-702. doi:10.1017/S1049096520000554
  12. Bullock, C. S., & Shafer, D. J. (1997). Party Targeting and Electoral Success. Legislative Studies Quarterly, 22(4), 573–584.
  13. Palmer, L. A. (2020). Diane Abbott, misogynoir and the politics of Black British feminism's anticolonial imperatives: 'In Britain too, it's as if we don't exist.' The Sociological Review, 68(3), 508–523. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038026119892404
  14. Böhm, T. (2015). Activists in Politics: The Influence of Embedded Activists on the Success of Social Movements. Social Problems, 62(4), 477–498. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44014872


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