Racially patterned voting can be spurious (based on racially neutral criteria), racist (based solely on race), or racial (based on political, tactical, symbolic, or value-based deliberations in which race is an important consideration). In this article the author assesses the relationship between race and voting in the 140 precincts of the District of Columbia, focusing on competitive elections between 1978 and 1990. Race is an extremely potent and tenacious factor in structuring electoral patterns, but this reflects context-specific calculations mediated by strong group identity and shared assessments of the political environment.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Allman, T. D.1978. The urban crisis leaves town. Harper's257(December): 41-56.
2.
Browning, R. P. , D. R. Marshall, and D. H. Tabb, eds. 1990. Racial politics in American cities. New York: Longman.
3.
Bullock, C. S., III , and B. A. Campbell. 1984. Racist or racial voting in the 1981 Atlanta municipal elections. Urban Affairs Quarterly20:149-164.
4.
Dewart, J. , ed. 1987. The state of black America. New York: National Urban League.
5.
Dillingham, G.1981. The emerging black middle class: Class consciousness or race consciousness?Ethnic and Racial Studies4:432-447.
6.
Fleetwood, B.1979. The new elite and an urban renaissance. New York Times, 14 January, 16-20, 26, 34-35.
7.
Frendreis, J. P. , and W. N. Stint. 1990. The electoral consequences of gentrification. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Southern Political Science Association, Atlanta, GA, 8-10 November.
8.
Gale, D. E.1980. Neighborhood resettlement: Washington, D.C. In Back to the city, edited by S. Laska and D. Spain, 95-115. New York: Pergamon.
9.
Gale, D. E.1987. Washington, D.C.: Inner-city revitalization and minority suburbanization. Philadelphia: Temple Univ. Press.
10.
Gilliam, F. D., Jr.1986. Black America divided by class?Public Opinion8:53-57.
11.
Gilliam, F. D., Jr. , and K. J. Whitby. 1989. Race, class and attitudes toward social welfare spending: An ethclass interpretation. Social Science Quarterly70:88-100.
12.
Goldfield, D. R.1980. Private neighborhood redevelopment and displacement: The case of Washington, D.C. Urban Affairs Quarterly15:453-468.
13.
Grier, G. , and E. Grier. 1976. Movers to the city: New data on the housing market for Washington, D.C. Washington, DC: Center for Metropolitan Studies.
14.
Hahn, H. , D. Klingman, and H. Pachon. 1976. Cleavages, coalitions, and the black candidate: The Los Angeles mayoralty elections of 1969 and 1973. Western Political Quarterly29:521-530.
15.
Henig, J. R.1980. Gentrification and displacement within cities: A comparative analysis. Social Science Quarterly71:635-652.
16.
Henig, J. R.1982. Gentrification in Adams Morgan: Political and commercial consequences of neighborhood change. Monograph no. 9. Washington, DC: Center for Washington Area Studies, George Washington University.
17.
Henig, J. R. , and D. E. Gale. 1987. The political incorporation of newcomers to racially changing neighborhoods. Urban Affairs Quarterly22:399-419.
18.
Hero, R. E. , and K. M. Beatty. 1989. The elections of Federico Pena as mayor of Denver: Analysis and implications. Social Science Quarterly70:300-310.
19.
Jackson, B. O.1987. The effects of racial group consciousness on political mobilization in American cities. Western Political Quarterly40:631-646.
20.
Jackson, B. O.1990. Black political power in the City of Angels: An analysis of Mayor Tom Bradley's electoral success. National Political Science Review2:169-175.
21.
Lee, B. A. , and P. Mergenhagen. 1984. Is revitalization detectable? Evidence from five Nashville neighborhoods. Urban Affairs Quarterly19:511-538.
22.
Lee, B. , D. Spain, and D. Umberson. 1985. Neighborhood revitalization and racial change: The case of Washington, D.C. Demography22:581-601.
23.
LeGates, R. , and C. Hartman. 1986. The anatomy of displacement in the United States. In Gentrification of the city, by N. Smith and P. Williams, 178-203. Boston: Unwin Hyman.
24.
Lemann, N.1991. The promised land. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
25.
Ley, D.1985. Gentrification in Canadian inner cities: Patterns, analysis, impacts and policy. Vancouver: Univ. of British Columbia Press.
26.
London, B. , B. A. Lee, and S. G. Lipton. 1986. The determinants of gentrification in the United States: A city-level analysis. Urban Affairs Quarterly21:369-387.
27.
Lucas, J. A.1985. Common ground. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
28.
Marable, M.1990. A new black politics. The Progressive54 (8): 18-23.
29.
Morin, R. , and M. Abramowitz. 1990. Dixon victory points to economic rift between voters. Washington Post, 16 September, A1.
30.
Nelson, W. E.1990. Black mayoral leadership: A twenty-year perspective. National Political Science Review2:188-195.
31.
Palen, J. , and C. Nachmias. 1984. Revitalization in a working class neighborhood. In Gentrification, displacement, and neighborhood revitalization, edited by J. Palen and B. London, 128-139. Albany: State Univ. of New York Press.
32.
Perry, H. L.1991. Deracialization as an analytical construct in American politics. Urban Affairs Quarterly27:181-191.
33.
Pettigrew, T.1971. When a black candidate runs for mayor: Race and voting behavior. In People and politics in urban society, by H. Hahn, 99-105. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
34.
Pierannunzi, C. A. , and J. D. Hutcheson, Jr.1991. Deracialization in the Deep South: Mayoral politics in Atlanta. Urban Affairs Quarterly27:192-201.
35.
Stein, L. , and C. W. Kohfeld. 1991. St. Louis's black-white elections: Products of machine factionalism and polarization. Urban Affairs Quarterly27:227-248.
36.
Stone, C. N.1989. Regime politics: Governing Atlanta. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas.
37.
Summers, M. E. , and P. A. Klinkner. 1991. The Daniels election in New Haven and the failure of the deracialization hypothesis. Urban Affairs Quarterly27:202-215.
38.
Welch, S. , and M. Combs. 1985. Intra-racial differences in attitudes of blacks: Class cleavages or consensus. Phylon2:91-97.
39.
Wilson, W. J.1978. The declining significance of race. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.
40.
Zavarella, M. D.1987. The back-to-the-city movement revisited. Journal of Urban Affairs8:375-390.
