Black Church Electoral and Protest Politics from 2002 to 2012: a Social Media Analysis of the Resistance Versus Accommodation Dialectic

Abstract

The continued debate about whether the Black Church has lost its activist voice is rooted in the historic resistance versus accommodation dialectic. The former stance positions the Black Church for involvement in electoral and protest politics; the latter stymies these processes. This project examines the contemporary Black Church's political presence on several social media sites. Findings document its continued political involvement thematically associated with calls for social justice and moral action, electoral and protest politics, redress for social problems, and a linked fate mentality and collective memory. Moreover, results illustrate how electoral and protest politics, based on a historic Black Church cultural toolkit, can reflect both a social issue to be championed and a strategic process used to promote other agendas. A resistance versus accommodation dialectical model provides a cogent explanation for the political pluralism and ambiguity such congregations can exhibit as well as for many Black Christians to prioritize issues of racial justice and economic empowerment above more conservative religious views they may espouse.