Jas M. Sullivan

William E. Cross Jr.

Presents research on how variations in African Americans’ racial self-concept affects meaning-making and internalized oppression. Focusing on the broad range of attitudes Black people employ to make sense of their Blackness, this volume offers the latest research on racial identity. The first section explores meaning-making, or the importance of holding one type of racial-cultural identity as compared to another. It looks at a wide range of topics, including stereotypes, spirituality, appearance, gender and intersectionalities, masculinity, and more. The second section examines the different expressions of internalized racism that arise when the pressure of oppression is too great, and includes such topics as identity orientations, self-esteem, colorism, and linked fate. Grounded in psychology, the research presented here makes the case for understanding Black identity as wide ranging in content, subject to multiple interpretations, and linked to both positive mental health as well as varied forms of internalized racism. Jas M. Sullivan is Associate Professor of Political Science and African and African American Studies at Louisiana State University and the coeditor (with Ashraf M. Esmail) of African American Identity: Racial and Cultural Dimensions of the Black Experience. William E. Cross Jr. is Clinical Professor at the University of Denver and Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the Graduate Center, City University of New York. He is the author of Shades of Black: Diversity in African American Identity.

Meaning-Making, Internalized Racism, and African American Identity

Ashraf Esmail

African American Identity: Racial and Cultural Dimensions of the Black Experience, edited by Jas M. Sullivan and Ashraf M. Esmail, is a multidisciplinary exploration of the African American racial identity. The contributors to this volume cover a broad spectrum of disciplines, exploring questions like what is racial identity, how do we quantify it, and what effects do racial identity have on psychological, political, educational, and health-related behavior.

Racial and Cultural Dimensions of the Black Experience

African American Identity

Jonathan Winburn

A multidimensional perspective captures the complexities of African American racial identity. While the dynamics of racial oppression limit the range of attitudes blacks may construct and hold, their basic humanity introduces additional attitudinal variance that is nearly boundless. Rather than claim it is possible to conceptualize and measure every iteration of blackness, modern social theorists such as Robert Sellers and William Cross Jr. contend that one should systematically sample the unmanageable range of different identity frames found among blacks. In Dimensions of Blackness, the authors suggest there is no single, solitary way to express black racial identity. They move away from blackness as binary and instead reveal what happens when black racial identity is conceptualized with difference of opinion. Using a multidimensional perspective this book explores whether black racial identity differences among blacks influence political attitudes and behavior.

Racial Identity and Political Beliefs

Dimensions of Blackness

Since the creation of the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus in 1977, the number of black lawmakers in the Louisiana legislature has increased; however, many of the socioeconomic indicators show that the condition of their constituents has failed to improve. In The Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus, Jas M. Sullivan and Jonathan Winburn analyze the evolution of the LLBC and raise critical questions as to the effectiveness and limitations of this body of minority legislators. Sullivan and Winburn ask why the LLBC, composed entirely of Democrats, had the lowest bill-passage rate among all the groups in the legislature at the same time the Democratic Party held the majority. The inability of the LLBC to form coalitions across party lines, and even inside its own party, limits its effectiveness, the authors contend. Though LLBC members vote together more often than any other group in the legislature, their bills rarely receive support from outside the caucus. The issues faced by the LLBC's constituents often fail to garner enough support from white Democrats, a group more closely aligned with their Republican colleagues. Based on years of research and extensive interviews with caucus members, The Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus offers a deft analysis of minority representation in Louisiana that helps explain why, four decades after the LLBC was established, blacks continue to lag behind whites in key social and economic areas in the Pelican State.

Race and Representation in the Pelican State

The Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus

Presents research on how variations in African Americans’ racial self-concept affects meaning-making and internalized oppression. Focusing on the broad range of attitudes Black people employ to make sense of their Blackness, this volume offers the latest research on racial identity. The first section explores meaning-making, or the importance of holding one type of racial-cultural identity as compared to another. It looks at a wide range of topics, including stereotypes, spirituality, appearance, gender and intersectionalities, masculinity, and more. The second section examines the different expressions of internalized racism that arise when the pressure of oppression is too great, and includes such topics as identity orientations, self-esteem, colorism, and linked fate. Grounded in psychology, the research presented here makes the case for understanding Black identity as wide ranging in content, subject to multiple interpretations, and linked to both positive mental health as well as varied forms of internalized racism. “With its impressive and varied research base, this is one of the most comprehensive books on the subject of racial identity.” — Scott L. Graves Jr., Duquesne University

Jas M. Sullivan

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