Culture Clash: Black Media, Political Attitudes, and Political Participation

Abstract

Black youth participation in Obama’s 2008 campaign hit an all-time high (55%). Voter turnout increased more amongst black youths than any other demographic group. I argue that this is not coincidental, but in part a byproduct of black youth’s receptivity to cultural elites’ priming of increased political participation. Aspects of popular culture (specifically rap music) are the powerful vehicles by which such socio-political priming can occur.

Is there a relationship between rap music and political attitudes and participation? Does it vary by gender? If found, are the differences amongst age groups attributable to different levels of consumption for different forms of media? We know very little, empirically, at this juncture. My project is unique, as very few political science texts offer in-depth analyses of culture and its relationship to political attitudes and political behavior. This project specifically focuses on the impact rap music has on identity formation, policy preferences, and civic engagement amongst black youth.

I use the 1993 National Black Politics survey to gauge black political thought, action, and cultural consumption. I divide blacks into three age groups (18-29, 30-54, and 55 ) listenership of rap music, and by gender to determine if there is variability in political attitudes and formation, media and cultural consumption, and political participation. By relying on regression analyses, I discover some important findings.

As predicted, I find that there is a link between rap music and policy attitudes, political participation, and consumption of culture amongst blacks of all age groups. There are few differences in the level of political participation between the age groups. However, the sources of political information do vary dependent upon age group. In general, black youth consider rap to be a prominent source of political information. With respect to political attitudes, black survey respondents across the three age groups tend to disconnect on matters concerning gender and rap music’s positive communal contribution.

Older blacks tend to rely more on black radio news than their younger counterparts, while the younger blacks rely much more heavily on rap music as a major source of political information. There is also a major — and important — age induced polarization of attitudes concerning women and black leadership. Younger blacks are much more supportive of equality in this regard while older blacks appear much less so. This could be a factor of political socialization and the news source.

This project offers empirical merit to the pervasive claim to rap music’s powerful role as a persuasive mobilizing force for black youth.

Keywords: political participation, media, mobilization, race