Anthony Wohl - The Expanding Boundaries of Black Politics

First published 2007 by Transaction Publishers

Published 2017 by Routledge

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Library of Congress Catalog Number: 2006103024

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

The expanding boundaries of Black politics / Georgia A. Persons, editor.

p. cm.(The national political science review ; v. 11)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN-13: 978-0-7658-0375-7

1. African AmericansPolitics and government20th centuryCongresses. 2. African AmericansPolitics and government21st centuryCongresses. 3. Political participationUnited StatesCongresses. 4. ElectionsUnited StatesCongresses. 5. African AmericansSocial conditions1975Congresses. 6. United StatesRace relationsPolitical aspectsCongresses. 7. United StatesRace relationsPolitical aspectsHistory20th centuryCongresses. I. Persons, Georgia Anne. II. National political science review.

E185.615.E93 2007

324.08996073dc22

2006103024

ISBN 13: 978-0-7658-03757 (pbk)

Georgia Institute of Technology

San Francisco State University

University of Maryland-Baltimore County

National Governors Association

University of Michigan

Columbia University

University of Baltimore

Clark Atlanta University

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

University of Chicago

Rutgers University

University of South Florida

Sacramento State

Ohio State University

Howard University

Northwestern University

Georgia State University

University of Southern California

Brown University

University of New Mexico

University of Missouri Columbia

University of North Carolina Charlotte

The Editor offers special thanks to all of the contributors featured in this volume of the National Political Science Review. Special thanks to Todd Shaw, Symposium Editor, for his outstanding efforts in organizing the collection of papers around which this volume is anchored. Thanks also to Associate Editors Robert C. Smith and Cheryl M. Miller, and colleagues in the discipline who served as reviewers and made completion of this volume possible.

Thanks to Melissa Nobles, President of NCOBPS and Kathy Stromile-Golden, Executive Director of NCOBPS for their support and assistance with the business and financial aspects of managing the journal. I would also like to extend deep appreciation to Matthew Holden, former Editor of the National Political Science Review for his ongoing support and assistance in raising the profile of the journal.

Thanks to the copy editors at Transaction Publishers for providing outstanding technical assistance and for ensuring that the journal meets the highest standards of quality and accuracy. Carmen Williams and Katara Jones of the School of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology, have provided administrative assistance, kindness, mirth and good humor in support of the ongoing logistical needs of the journal.

The National Political Science Review is currently indexed in the following publications: American History & Life, Historical Abstracts, International Index to Black Periodicals, International Political Science Abstracts, Social Planning-Policy & Development Abstracts, Sage Race Relations Abstracts, Social Science Abstracts, and Sociological Abstracts.

Thanks to all of the contributors and reviewers over the years, editorial board members past and present, and members of NCOBPS. Because of your support, The National Political Science Review has been established and sustained as a nationally and internationally respected peer-reviewed journal and a leader in the field of African American Politics.

One of the challenges to political science research and scholarship as pursued outside of highly resourced and privileged environments of think-tanks is the inability of scholars to rapidly shift foci to produce substantive analyses of newly breaking debates on societal problems. The result is that there is usually a considerable lag time between breaking news issues which dominate public debate and discourse and political science analyses of these issues. There are several reasons for this state of affairs. One is the resource constraint. Most of us do not have the benefit of an extensive team of well trained research assistants. Nor are we exempt from the multifaceted demands of teaching. Thirdly, scholarship is ultimately about knowing and understanding, ends which require a level of deeply engaged and sustained inquiry. Indeed, much of what scholars do is to attend to the maintenance needs of their disciplines. We busy ourselves with filling in the conceptual, theoretical and analytical gaps in the knowledge base. It is our critical duty as scholars to do so. Moreover, the customs, traditions, and rewards of the academy strongly dictate that individuals become experts in some specific area, a goal which requires much concentration, dedication and time.

The end result of the convergence of these factors is that sometimes it very much appears that the world of politically significant and compelling societal developments evolves at a rapid-fire pace in comparison to the production of political science analyses of those issues which scholars decide are interesting. Such is the nature of the present moment in history. One readily observes that the oral discourse among political scientists, especially that community of scholars which is loosely organized around concerns about race, gender, social inequality and social justicea significant portion of whom are served by this journalis rife with concerns such as the dire social conditions exposed by Hurricane Katrina; the mass-scale failure of public organizations which accompanied Hurricane Katrina; the injustices associated with the war in Iraq; the alarming marginalization of African American males and the attendant risks to all of Black America; the persistent failure of Americas public schools which disproportionately serves African Americans; the heated debate and policy stalemate over immigration reform; the absence of a mobilizing ethos within the black community with the potential for generating and sustaining a meaningful policy agenda. These are the kind of compelling issues which comprise the oral discourse among black political scientists. However, our scholarly productivity woefully lags behind and only partially addresses our political concerns and interests.