A recent survey by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies reports an increase in the percentage of black Americans that identify themselves as Republican. The vast majority of the black community always has and still does support the Democratic Party; however, this new survey shows an increasing diversification of political opinion. The rise in black Republican voters is politically important for the GOP, but socially significant for the entire country.
There is a tendency for both blacks and non-blacks to automatically associate a particular race with a particular perspective. Blacks tending to vote strictly on the Democratic side and the perceived linkage of the two is an obvious example. Letting a shared skin color inherently determine a mentally similar perspective is problematic for a society that is fighting racism. The rise in diversity of political opinion among minorities is proof of a positive change.
There are specific issues that explain why African-Americans might favor the Democratic Party. Democrats tend to favor affirmative action, for example, and other programs that help minorities specifically to advance. But race-related issues make up only a small portion of the party's platform. The overwhelming proportion of blacks that vote for the Democratic ticket suggests that race is a very strong factor in political decisions. For some, race may legitimately figure somewhat into a person's political opinions, but should by no means supersede other more relevant factors like class, education and gender. One should never assume that a person will weigh in on a certain side of an issue, even one involving race, according to their skin color. There is danger in doing so.
The "black Republican" has long been considered an oxymoron in America. African-Americans had high hopes when a black judge, Clarence Thomas, was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1991, but some were disappointed when he turned out to be one of the most conservative judges on the bench. Not only would his non-racial views be considered conservative by most standards, but his stances on affirmative action, the racial organization of school districts and other race-based issues offended liberal blacks as well. Thomas was appointed to fill the spot left when Thurgood Marshall retired, yet the two have little in common besides the color of their skin. Marshall, sitting much to the left of Thomas, exemplified the views that the majority of the black community possessed.
This problem manifests itself in University life. People want more racial diversity on the staff of The Cavalier Daily. They'd like to see more African-American faces on the opinion page, perhaps. But hiring a writer with darker skin assures you nothing definitive. If you want diversity of perspective, look at people's background, political views or academic majors. There is no such thing as a universally common race experience. Just as the white opinion columnists have a wide range of views, including on racial issues, minorities do too. The University community's demand for racial diversity makes race an absolute factor in determining a person's opinion. Not having others assume what one's opinion is should be a privilege not just enjoyed by whites, but by everyone.
Members of the University community applauded the racial diversity on the honor panel of the recent open case. They should not have. The premise behind the praise for this decision was that diversity of opinion would serve to objectify the jury. Race was not a factor in this trial. There is no logical reason to believe that an Asian student will have a different perspective on the honor system than a white one.
This idea has wider implications for affirmative action. An increase in minority numbers guarantees diversity of skin color and that's it. An upper-middle class, suburban African-American girl will probably have attitudes, behaviors and perspectives that are much more similar to those of an upper-middle class suburban white girl than those of an African-American man raised in the inner city of Washington, D.C. Race simply does not create an all-encompassing attitude, nor does it trump other factors that go into creating a person.
The diversification of African-American voters' party stances proves that African-Americans themselves are beginning to look at the issues over the strict party lines. Now everyone needs to take the initiative to stop associating certain races with certain perspectives that have little to do with race. The more we stop putting attributes into race-labeled boxes, the closer we come to eliminating racism. By emphasizing the individual over the community, the composition of ideologies in America will be more precise and more reflective of public opinion.
(Kimberly Liu's column appears Mondays in The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at kliu@cavalierdaily.com.)
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