Voluntary Association Membership Among Black Americans: The Post-Civil Rights Era

Abstract

This article discusses voluntary membership among black Americans in the post-civil rights era. Previous empirical studies comparing black to white social participation are critically assessed. A model composed of social class and intragroup regionality variables is offered to explain membership patterns as a manifestation of vertical and horizontal differentiation in the black American social structure. The analysis of empirical data collected by telephone interviews (N = 321) in a southwest Chicago community revealed that education most accurately predicts membership across associations but that occupation and regionality are also important variables. The analysis showed that members of church groups and civil rights groups are likely to be women from the rural South with at least 12 years of education. These findings suggest that explanations of black American life in the post-civil rights era may wish to consider vertical as well as horizontal differentiation. membership is an important aspect of black American life. Traditionally, organizations such as church groups, civil rights groups, sororities, fraternities, youth groups, and community service groups have been a source of strength and leadership development in the black community. In this light it is somewhat surprising to find that much of the research on voluntary activity among blacks suffers from a lack of theoretical perspective. Empirical studies have tended to compare the participation rates of whites to blacks in various social and political activities. As a result, only a glimpse of the voluntary patterns of black Americans is provided, and blacks tend to be portrayed as belonging to too many expressive associations and/or to too few instrumental associations. This portrayal has had the unfortunate effect of creating a stereotypical image of black associational life as deviant, if not frivolous. This article will attempt to correct this problem by analyzing voluntary membership among blacks in the post-civil rights era. Voluntary association refers to formal organizations, regardless of size, in which membership is usually voluntary.