Black Representation Research Articles

Who wins when? Election timing and descriptive representation

AbstractWe examine how the timing of local elections affects the success of minority candidates, who remain woefully underrepresented in public office. We build on research showing that concurrent elections narrow racial gaps in voter turnout and leverage changes in the timing of local elections in California. Our analysis shows that filling local offices in November of even years increases minority officeholding, at least for some groups. The results demonstrate how, when, and for whom election timing matters. Latinos gain most, potentially at the expense of White and, to a lesser degree, Black representation. An investigation of potential mechanisms suggests that these effects depend on group population size and the magnitude of the turnout changes. An increase in the number of co‐ethnic candidates running also appears to contribute to the representational benefits of on‐cycle elections. Finally, the effects are most pronounced during presidential elections, when turnout improvements are largest.

RACISMO X NEGRO NA GESTÃO PÚBLICA

The presence of black people in public administration is a crucial and complex issue that is intertwined with the history of racism in Brazil. The fight for more black representation in spaces of power is a direct confrontation with the racist structures that permeate our society. The slave system, which lasted for centuries in Brazil, left deep marks on society, establishing racial hierarchies that persist to this day. For more than three centuries, slavery denied black people citizenship and any kind of political participation. This historical legacy perpetuates inequalities and prejudices, affecting the Brazilian social structure to this day. This article, through bibliographical research, seeks to understand the relationship between racism and low black representation in the Brazilian political system, analyzing how racism contributes directly to the under-representation of black people in other spheres of power and social prestige. However, this study only reinforces how fundamental it is to tackle structural racism so that, through affirmative policies, the inclusion of black people in Brazilian society can take place in a more equal way in the context of public management, enabling institutions to be more diverse and plural.

Critical Race Theory in Literature: In The Blood By Suzan-Lori Parks

This study seeks to explore the fundamental principles of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and to use it as an analytical tool in order to discuss Suzan-Lori Parks’s play, In The Blood. Through the key tenets of CRT such as the systematic racism, race as a social construct, intersectionality and power structures, it is framed a comprehensive theoretical background for a literary analysis. Relatedly, the primary focus of this study is to deeply analyze race, gender, power relations and socio-economic conditions with CRT through the playwright’s innovative representation of blackness. CRT clearly shows that racism is constructed through discriminative practices and sustained by law and institutions resulting in justification and accordingly normalization of oppression. In line with CRT’s main concerns, In The Blood embodies societal and ideological barriers and the dehumanization of black female bodies through social judgment, racial and gender discrimination, and motherhood. CRT essentially deals with how Parks reconstructs traditional narratives of guilt, shame, and femininity and claims that Hester is portrayed both as a victim of intersectional oppression and an individual struggling with the harsh conditions of life.

On Blackness, images and anti-racist work

ABSTRACT In this article, I explore the use, production, and readings of images in antiracist work as processes in constant tension with racist logics. Racist logics are deceptive and entrapping, and the visible world is a particularly dynamic arena in which to analyse this. Images, specifically photographs, incorporate a nuanced and productive contradiction between their ability to illustrate, explain and evoke, on the one hand, while also ensnaring, on the other, partly through alluring and providing pleasure. This contradiction means that anti-racist projects may include the possibility of re-inscribing racist discourse and practice. Drawing on empirical examples from Mexico, this article interrogates how photographic representations of Blackness have been entangled with the racist logics and racial projects that feed them. Racialised images that emphasise the physical body of Black people raise questions about how mestizaje, Latin America’s main racial formation, has coded the visual space of representation in confusing ways.

Ungraspable: Black life in Juan Cárdenas’s novels

ABSTRACT This article focuses on the representation of Blackness in the fiction of Colombian author Juan Cárdenas, particularly emphasising the novels The Strata and Shadow Elastic. It explores the challenges faced by Cárdenas when integrating Black characters into narratives narrated by white male protagonists. The novels question the perspective of the male narrator, which often extends beyond the confines of European rationality. As a result, the act of portraying Black life becomes intricate when a character’s lived experience exceeds that of the narrator, prompting a reconsideration of the storytelling itself. The concept of the ‘shadow archive’, inspired by Tavia Nyong’o, plays a central role in Cárdenas’s vision of Black life. This archive serves as a repository of memory and self-representation, defying conventional narratives by recovering stories suppressed or disregarded by the white world. Cárdenas employs the notion of ‘afro-fabulation’, blurring the boundaries between reality and fiction and delving into the possibilities of what could have occurred by incorporating everyday, fantastic, and mythical elements. Through their elusive narratives, the novels disrupt hegemonic culture, challenge biased knowledge, and establish connections within Black cultures.

Black representation and the popular legitimacy of the Federal Reserve

The Federal Reserve has started paying closer attention to matters of race over the last decade. The central bank has increasingly emphasized the distinct economic challenges facing racial minorities, and its leadership has become more racially diverse. This paper applies theories of descriptive and substantive representation to understand how these shifts are likely to impact the popular legitimacy of the Federal Reserve. We hypothesize that greater Black descriptive and substantive representation improves Black Americans' confidence in the Federal Reserve. We also anticipate that political ideology moderates how white Americans respond to the increases in Black representation within the Federal Reserve, with white conservatives responding less favorably to these changes than more left-leaning whites. Analysis of data from two original survey experiments with separate samples of 3000 Americans, split evenly between Black and white respondents, supports our expectations. Information about substantive and descriptive representation at the Fed has a strong impact on Black Americans' perceptions of the institution. We also find that these changes at the Fed boost white liberals' views of the Fed but have little impact on white conservatives’ attitudes about the central bank.

Black Students’ Experiences and Perceptions of the Library at a Predominately White Institution

abstract: In this study, researchers investigated the library experiences of Black undergraduate students at Penn State in University Park, a predominately white institution. Their goal was to improve services and spaces and to highlight and validate experiences with race, racism, and microaggressions on campus and in the library. Twenty undergraduate students were interviewed and asked to talk about their experiences and how these affected their perception of the University Libraries. Using the lens of critical race theory, which sees race as a socially constructed category used to oppress people of color, this study seeks to present a counternarrative to the prevailing dominant view of the library as a neutral space. Several consistent themes were identified. The themes included, but were not limited to, a low awareness of library services, lack of Black representation in the University Libraries, and a general lack of comfort within the library space.

Self-simming while Black: Examining a petition to improve black representation in Sims 4.

Self-simming while Black: Examining a petition to improve black representation in Sims 4.

Archiving, Curating and Teaching Afro-Latin American Film

Abstract: Working at the intersections of Latin American film studies, Afro-Latin American studies, digital humanities (DH), and decolonial pedagogical praxes, this article aims to engage with educators interested in teaching about Afro-descendant representation, antiracist audiovisual productions, the legacy of the African diaspora in Latin America, and the diverse perspectives of Afro-descendants in the region—through the lens of Latin American film and media. In dialogue with calls to decolonize traditional film and media studies curricula, this article critically analyzes the scholarly, archival and digital landscapes of resources focused on Black representation in Latin American cinemas and Afro-Latin American media makers. I identify some of the archival and curatorial exclusionary practices that affect the visibilization of Afro-descendant representation and productions within national cinematecas from the region. Finally, I share a digital humanities project designed to amplify Afro-descendant representation and filmmakers in Latin American cinemas through the curation and creation of resources that center Black voices, experiences, and communities.

Race, romance, and Hollywood: Black women filmmakers and the cultural production of Black love

ABSTRACT Hollywood has been instrumental in the construction of Blackness on screen, often perpetuating myths, stereotypes, and negative images about the Black experience, showcasing Black people as aggressive, unloving, and incapable of maintaining a healthy romantic relationship. With more diversity efforts in Hollywood, Black women have become more empowered to reshape those narratives. So, what happens when these women intentionally provide a diverse representation of Blackness? What depictions of Blackness and love are prevalent when Black women drive the story? Using Black Feminist Thought as a theoretical framework, this essay examines the narratives surrounding love in the films The Photograph and Really Love (2020), both written and directed by Black women. Using thematic analysis of the film’s narratives, cinematography, casting, sound design, and character development, this study found the films Really Love (2020) and The Photograph (2020) offer a new conception of Black Love in Hollywood. These deliberate considerations demonstrate the intention Black women film writers take in depicting a full expression of Blackness, including romantic and intimate relationships.

Intersecting Aesthetics: Literary Adaptations and Cinematic Representations of Blackness

Intersecting Aesthetics: Literary Adaptations and Cinematic Representations of Blackness

Temporal trends and characteristics associated with racial, ethnic, and sex representation in COVID-19 clinical trials: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BackgroundEarly in the pandemic, extensive attention was cast on limited inclusion of historically underrepresented patient populations in COVID-19 clinical trials. How diverse representation improved following these initial reports remains unclear. MethodsPubMed, Embase and the Cochrane Library were searched (through April 2024) for US-based COVID-19 trials. Utilizing random-effects, we compared expected proportions of trial participants from racial and ethnic groups and of female sex between trials enrolling primarily in 2020 versus primarily 2021–2022. Meta-regression was performed to assess associations between trial characteristics and group representation. ResultsWe retrieved 157 studies comprising 198,012 participants. White (2020: 63.1% [95% CI, 60.8%–67.3%]; 2021–2022: 73.8% [95% CI, 71.5%–76.0%]) and female representation (2020: 46.1% [95% CI, 44.7%–47.4%)]; 2021–2022: 51.1% [95% CI, 49.3%–52.8%) increased across enrollment periods. Industry-sponsored trials were associated with higher White (coefficient, 0.10 [95% CI, 0.03–0.18]) and Hispanic or Latinx representation (coefficient, 0.16 [95% CI, 0.08–0.25]) and lower Asian (coefficient, −0.03 [95% CI, −0.06– –0.003]) and female representation (coefficient, −0.03 [95% CI, −0.07– –0.002]). Outpatient trials were associated with higher White (coefficient, 0.20 [95% CI, 0.13–0.26]) and female representation (coefficient, 0.16 [95% CI, 0.13–0.18]), and lower Black representation (coefficient, −0.10 [95% CI, −0.10– –0.08]). ConclusionsDespite improved female representation in COVID-19 trials over time, there was no clear increase in non-White representation. Trial characteristics such as primary sponsor, clinical setting, and intervention type correlate with representation of specific demographic groups and should be considered in future efforts to improve participant diversity.

“Be Yo’self. It’s Just a Show”: Performing Community through the Comic Grotesque in Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’s Neighbors

Abstract Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’s play Neighbors, which premiered at the Public Theater in 2010, explores the history of Black representation in the theater and, subsequently, the performance of Black identity in the US through its depiction of a complex and contradictory minstrelsy that cannot easily be classified as satirical or subversive. Generating what Jacobs-Jenkins has called “wrong laughter” through contradiction, ambiguity, and ambivalence, Neighbors engages the unstable space of the comic grotesque in order to open up pathways for something new to emerge. In this play, the figure of the clown – a grotesque outlaw who moves between, within, across, and beyond boundaries – becomes a key destabilizing figure as the grotesque body becomes a site for transformation through its contradictions, oozing inconsistency and excess, and allowing a potential space for regeneration and renewal through instability and failure when the stable and the rational have failed. In its embrace of clowning and the comic grotesque, Neighbors questions the stable notion of “community,” particularly in terms of racial and historical identity, and exposes the contradictions of closed constructions, creating a space beyond the boundaries of rational discourse that may begin to engage a more complex reality.

The Sociology of Afrofuturism in the New Disney Princesses: From Pinocchio and Anastasia, to Tiana

Afro-American Music, Dance, and culture, inspired entire movement Afrofuturism, afrofabulist Nyong, Tavio, Vincent Joslin, and John Szwed “Space is the place”, support the ideas of YTasha L. Womack, that can be found in the representation of blackness, as a new model of Princess and the Frog. Pinocchio, Anastasia and Tiana, were left out on the streets, but only one of the three becomes restaurant owner. Investigation on Gender dimension of comparison in between the Anastasia, and Pinocchio characters in cartoons, was conducted in group of BA students, of Sociology, at Faculty of Political Sciences, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, at Sociology of Gender I classes. The opinions about the issues of social inequalities, homelessness, and rising to the positive role model in Disney characters. Student showed high interest, and responded, and discussed, all of the offered questions. Interest in the analysis of cartoons, especially Disney characters, or post-feministic Disney masculinities (Michael Macaluso, 2018), and femininities, was higher than in the other themes. Focus on to the theme of the gender dimensions of Youth homelessness, influenced very wider aftermath discussion. What types of the femininities are globally celebrated inside the Disney. The opinions about the issues of social inequalities, homelessness, and rising to the positive role model in Disney characters.

The intersecting aesthetics: Literary adaptations and cinematic representations of blackness By CharleneRegester, CynthiaBaron, Ellen C.Scott, Terri SimoneFrancis, and Robin G.Vander (Eds.), Jackson, MS: Mississippi University Press. 2023. pp. 278. $30.00 (paperback).

The intersecting aesthetics: Literary adaptations and cinematic representations of blackness By CharleneRegester, CynthiaBaron, Ellen C.Scott, Terri SimoneFrancis, and Robin G.Vander (Eds.), Jackson, MS: Mississippi University Press. 2023. pp. 278. $30.00 (paperback).

Voting Rights in Georgia: A Short History

Abstract: This article is a brief history of the struggle for Black voting rights and against determined opposition in Georgia since the end of the Civil War. After a brief period during Reconstruction when there was significant Black voting and Black representation in the Georgia legislature, Black people were systematically denied both voting rights and representation in the state of Georgia. After 1944, when the US Supreme Court ruled against the all-white primary, and especially after 1965, with the passage of the Voting Rights Act, white Georgia politicians tried any number of strategies to limit minority voting strength, from efforts to limit Black registration, to manipulating election districts and voting rules to keep African Americans from winning elective office. These efforts continued, and in many ways increased after the Supreme Court in 2013 ended the preclearance provisions of the Voting Rights Act. Nonetheless, the increasing demographic power of metro Atlanta, with its large minority population, was a key in 2020 to the narrow victory of Joseph Biden in the presidential race in Georgia, and the election of two liberal Democratic US Senators, including the first African American and Jew elected in the state's history.

Representation Matters: Trust in Digital Health Information Among Black Patients With Prostate Cancer.

Although the majority of US adults obtain health information on the internet, the quality of information about prostate cancer is highly variable. Black adults are underrepresented in online content about prostate cancer despite a higher incidence of and mortality from the disease. The goal of this study was to explore the perspectives of Black patients with prostate cancer on the importance of racial representation in online content and other factors influencing trust. We conducted 7 virtual focus groups with Black patients with prostate cancer in 2022 and 2023. Participants completed an intake questionnaire with demographics followed by a group discussion, including feedback on purposefully selected online content. Transcripts were independently analyzed by 2 investigators experienced in qualitative research using a constant comparative method. Most participants use online sources to look for prostate cancer information. Racial representation is an important factor affecting trust in the content. A lack of Black representation has consequences, including misperceptions about a lower risk of prostate cancer and discouraging further information-seeking. Other key themes affecting trust in online content included the importance of a reputable source of information, professional website structure, and soliciting money. Underrepresentation of Black adults in prostate cancer content has the potential to worsen health disparities. Optimal online communications should include racially diverse representation and evidence-based information in a professional format from reputable sources without financial conflict.

Black and Hispanic Representation Declined After Increased Degree Requirements for Physician Assistants.

The physician assistant (PA) profession is one of the least racially and ethnically diverse health professions requiring advanced education. New PA graduates are even less diverse than the current PA workforce and less diverse than professions requiring doctoral degrees. Between 1995 and 2020, the percent of all PA graduates that were Black individuals fell from 7% to 3.1%, while Hispanic representation increased from 4.5% to 7.9%. Using the federal Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, we examine the impact of transitions to master's degrees for PAs on Black and Hispanic representation between 1995 and 2020, using individual universities as the unit of analysis. After adjusting for state and year effects, PA programs that transitioned from bachelor's to master's degrees experienced a 5.3% point decline in Black representation and a 3.8% point decline in Hispanic representation. Relative to the already low proportions of Black and Hispanic graduates in PA programs, these declines are significant. Steps should be taken to ensure that underrepresented populations have greater access to PA education.

Critical mass condition of majority bureaucratic behavioral change in representative bureaucracy: a theoretical clarification and a nonparametric exploration

Abstract Representative bureaucracy theory examines how bureaucrats’ demographics impact outcomes for clients with shared identities, with “critical mass” posited as an enabling condition. Yet empirical evidence is mixed regarding where this threshold stands. To reconcile these inconsistencies, this study emphasizes the need to first clarify the mechanisms that underpin critical mass requirements. Specifically, I attend to how majority behavior changes due to enhanced representation and evaluate corresponding critical mass condition. Nonparametric analyses of traffic stop data in two states find that, in Washington, the critical mass where White officers show reduced bias towards Black drivers occurs when Black officers constitute 6–9 percent of the force. In South Carolina, similar shifts occur at 9–11 and 19–23 percent Black representation. While findings indicate improved policing towards Black drivers, increased representation still falls short of achieving full parity between Black and White drivers. No significant critical mass is observed for Hispanic representation in either state.

Oroonoko 's Interspecies Imaginary: Race, Gender, and Animality

Abstract: This essay employs Aphra Behn's Oroonoko (1688) as a case study through which to explore the "interspecies imaginary": a conceptual framework that examines how violent tensions between disparate species are imagined in the colonial archive and how these tensions cohere around representations of Blackness, Indigeneity, and animality. The interspecies imaginary, rather than defaulting to a discriminatory rhetoric in which subaltern positions are flattened, instead maintains a subversive, decolonial effect in that its documentation produces new constellations of co-constitutive becoming. By highlighting the tiger and eel episodes in the novella, this essay argues that the interspecies imaginary magnifies the textures of violent contact between human and nonhuman species that shape how formations of gender, Blackness, and Indigeneity are productively tethered to and produced alongside animality.