The Attitudinal Structure of African American Women Party Activists: The Impact of Race, Gender, and Religion

Abstract

Using data on grassroots party activists in the South, we explore the attitudinal structure of Democratic activists. Because of their socialization experiences with both racial and gender discrimination, we hypothesize that African American women will have a unique attitudinal structure regarding racial and gender issues when compared to other activist subgroups. Our results indicate the importance of race, gender, and the black church for understanding the structure of African American women’s political attitudes. Unlike whites or black men, African American women locate issues of race and gender on a single dimension; whether abortion attitudes fit on that dimension depends on the religious involvement of these activists.