For Keneshia Grant, Ph.D., an associate professor of political science at Howard, merely observing how certain groups of people engage in civic participation is not enough. She wants to know why. That’s why she has spent years conducting nonpartisan research on the voting patterns of Black voters across the country, particularly how those patterns may change depending on where they live and the socio-economic environment that surrounds them. After decades of struggle and making the highest sacrifices to attain the right to vote, how — and where — has the Black community made their electoral voices heard?
Few have dug as deep as Grant in trying to understand how the realities of geography has affected the vote. Among the greatest shifts in American voting alignment during the twentieth century were the gradual transformation of many Southern states into reliable bastions of white Republican voters and the near simultaneous change from the support many Black Americans traditionally gave Republican candidates to support for Democratic candidates. This shift occurred during the “great migration,” as millions of Blacks migrated northward in search of employment in emerging industrial centers such as Detroit, Chicago, and New York City. Grant has worked to explain the relationship between these phenomena, as well as the associated repercussions. As many Blacks concentrated their voting power within the Democratic Party, their influence grew. Some scholars have argued that the shift created an inextricable codependency in which the benefits are obvious, but there may also be an element of toxicity in the relationship.
“In most instances throughout their history, the record reflects a Black population that was highly attentive to politics and strategic about their participation,” said Grant. “In the Great Migration for example, they are highly motivated to participate in politics in ways that range from voter education to voting and holding elected offices. At that time and today, we have seen Black people exercise their greatest power in places where they have chosen to make a life. For the Great Migration era, that’s places like Chicago and Detroit. These days, I think of places like Maryland and Atlanta.”
Her expertise is particularly relevant in this moment, as calls for many Black Americans to reexamine their civic sentiments— and allegiances— have gotten louder. As a distinct minority population, is it collectively politically healthy for the Black community to leverage the full weight of its political influence to gain power in one party, or should more Blacks engage multiple political parties, confident they can make their viewpoint heard without the larger, unified voice? Like any other community, the Black community is not monolithic and comes with widely varying economic, educational, geographic, gender, political, and religious backgrounds, just like any other community. Nevertheless, is the Black vote America’s most predictable voting bloc, and is that good or bad for their collective interests and democracy in general?
“It makes sense for a group of voters to reliably support a party that responds to their policy demands and gives them spoils — this is, of course, if that preferred party is in power,” Grant explained. “The United States is in the midst of a realignment currently, in which the distribution of power is changing. In this type of scenario, it makes sense for Black Americans to have representatives of the race in every room where politicians are making decisions — rather than just being in the rooms of one party. Having people present on both sides changes the nature of conversations on both sides.”
From the “3/5ths Compromise” in the U.S. Constitution through the Jim Crow era, the laws on the books in many states purposefully tried to limit the voting rights of Black Americans. Sometimes, laws such as the poll tax and citizenship tests were cleverly devised to ostensibly apply to all voters, in practice, they predominantly disenfranchised Blacks. In addition to voting phenomena in northern urban centers, Grant has explored impediments to voting in her home state of Florida, where up to one-fifth of Blacks have had their voting rights restricted due to felony convictions. Recently, the voters of the state largely removed that permanent restriction through constitutional amendment, restoring the right to those whose debts to society have been paid. However, through political and prosecutorial intimidation, many eligible voters have been prevented from exercising their rights.
“The situation in Florida is an example of what happens when there is a disconnect between the will of the voters and the aims of political leaders,” Grant said.
“Voters in the state were very clear about their desire to see returning citizens have access to the vote in their support for Amendment 4 in 2018. Since that time, though, legislators have used a variety of methods to ensure that these citizens remain locked away from their rights to political participation.”
Grant’s interest in political systems spiked in college, where she served as student government vice president at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU). She obtained a Master of Applied Social Sciences degree from FAMU, and then earned a Ph.D. in American politics and public administration from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University. After a stint at the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, she came to Howard to add her expertise and insight to the university’s storied faculty.
The common theme throughout Grant’s research is that there are reasons for voting patterns which often go beyond temporary personal interests. Structural elements which used to unify Black communities around common interests, are now changing dramatically. Black educational attainment is diverging between men and women, more Black people are moving to suburban areas, interracial relationships have been largely normalized, and the long term financial interests of some Blacks are wildly different from those of others, even within their own families. As gentrification has displaced some from urban centers, and others have returned to Southern cities like Atlanta, Grant continues to explore how the Black voting patterns are changing and how those changes will impact American democracy.
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