Response to Robert Gooding-Williams' review of Dreaming Blackness: Black Nationalism and African American Public Opinion

Abstract

In Dreaming Blackness, I had two major goals. First, I hoped to elucidate how changes in the American racial landscape have impacted African American support for black nationalism. To this end, I used a mixed methodological approach that included both statistical and qualitative analysis and allowed me to make claims based on a national cross section of African Americans and on more intimate discussions in smaller groups. Second, I wanted to ground my arguments in a robust discussion of African American political thought. This would ensure that my hypotheses and findings were resonant with a longitudinal understanding of how black nationalist ideology is characterized. Robert Gooding-Williams, with some caveats, suggests that I have accomplished these goals. I now address his two areas of concern related to evolving definitions of black nationalism and possible alternative interpretations, and I conclude by addressing our differing impressions of the future viability of this ideological option.

The Impact of Personal Security Dispositions on Citizen Support for the Pursuit of Gender Equality in US Foreign Policy

“…Prior scholarship finds that group identity, interdependence, and linked fate lead to different issue positions. This research consistently shows that group membersincluding among women in the public, among women in the US Congress, and among African Americans-with a sense of linked fate are more likely to support policies that will positively impact the group (Angevine 2017;Cohen 1999;Dawson 1994Dawson , 2001Gay, Hochschild, and White 2016;Price 2009;Sigel 1996;Simien 2005Simien , 2013. For example, the correlation between group identity and policy preferences is a central finding of Sigel's study of 400 women and 200 men in New Jersey (1996).…”