Black Ethnics’ Perception and
Reception of U.S. Political
Messages
An Analysis of Microtargeting Efforts to Black
Caribbean and Black African Cultural Identities
Tiffany K. Bain
American University
Washington, D.C.
4/28/2014
ABSTRACT: This paper explored how Black ethnics in the U.S., specifically Black Africans and
Caribbeans, perceive and respond to political messages intended for African-Americans. Political
outreach experts and practitioners as well as Black ethnics were interviewed on their
perspectives on the topic. The findings yielded the notion that all of the experts and Black ethnics
acknowledged the diversity of Black America and that Black ethnics had issues with cultural
identity umbrella terms, such as Black and African-American. Also, Black ethnics were diverse in
their political identity as well as perceptions and receptions to messages. Additionally, political
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
outreach experts and practitioners would like more information on Black ethnics to enhance
outreach and communication targeting efforts.
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Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................................................................................. 3
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 4
PART I .................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 8
WHO ARE THE BLACK ETHNICS OF THE U.S.? ..................................................................................................................................... 8
Cultural Identity Composition & Development ..................................................................................................................... 9
African-American Cultural Identity ...........................................................................................................................................10
U.S. Black Caribbeans’ Cultural Identity ..................................................................................................................................11
U.S. Black Africans’ Cultural Identity .........................................................................................................................................14
CULTURAL STUDIES: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ........................................................................................................................17
Message Production and Distribution Process ...................................................................................................................17
Message Distribution in U.S. Mass Media ................................................................................................................................18
POLITICAL MESSAGING TO BLACK AUDIENCES ...............................................................................................................................19
MICROTARGETING TO OTHER U.S. BLACK ETHNICS ......................................................................................................................22
PART II ..............................................................................................................................................................................................................23
Thoughts From The Experts .......................................................................................................................................................................23
Black Ethnics in America are NOT a Monolith .....................................................................................................................24
Not Enough Data on Black Ethnics ..............................................................................................................................................26
Lessons Learned In Black Ethnic Outreach Efforts ...........................................................................................................27
Microtargeting to Black Ethnics in the Future .....................................................................................................................31
Perspectives of Black Caribbeans and Africans in the U.S. .............................................................................................................32
Cultural Self-Identification ..............................................................................................................................................................33
Political Participation History.......................................................................................................................................................37
Black Ethnics’ Political News Consumption Habits ...........................................................................................................40
Black Ethnics’ Response to Culturally-Specific Political Messages..........................................................................41
PART III ............................................................................................................................................................................................................51
CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................................................................................................51
REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................................................................................................53
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
3
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This research paper is made possible thanks to everyone’s support and encouragement including:
family, friends, classmates, professors, and all of the people who I interviewed.
First and foremost, I would like to thank God for the strength to complete this paper.
Second, I would like to thank Professors Lenny Steinhorn and Joseph Erba for their support,
recommendations for interviews, and guidance.
Next, I would like to thank all of the people who graciously accepted and participated in the
interviews I conducted. This paper would not have been complete without you.
Finally, I sincerely thank my family, friends, and classmates for their encouragement throughout
this entire process.
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
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INTRODUCTION
PURPOSE AND SIGNIFICANCE
For as long as I can remember, I have always been the type of person who noticed
differences in things even when others thought they were the same. This includes noticing
differences in people who, on the surface, seemed the same.
As a public relations professional and a student completing a master’s degree in political
communication, I am highly interested in knowing as much as I can about a person, or a group of
people. This is helpful when creating a message, be it visual or audio, to influence their voting
behavior or their opinion about a particular candidate or public policy issue. At the same time, I am
interested in creating and distributing messages that appeal to different cultures and ethnicities.
More specifically, cultures of the African Diaspora living in the United States. This brings me to what
I explored in this paper: How do Black ethnics in the United States of America (U.S.) perceive and
respond to political messages intended for a seemingly homogenous Black audience?
This topic was worth exploring for several reasons. Starting with the notion that the U.S.
Black community, also referred to as Black America, is not homogenous. Alfred Liggins, CEO and
Chairman of TV One, LLC, made this point very well in his 2008 opinion piece, where he stated:
“[a]lthough politicians and their advertising gurus often speak to Black America as a
collective, homogeneous group, the [B]lack population is anything but a monolith. In the
past decade, the more than 40 million strong Black population in America has become
increasingly diverse: economically, socially, technologically and even philosophically,”
(Liggins, 2008).
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
5
I agree with Liggins. It is evident that mainstream political communicators and media
undermine and/or overlook the diversity within the U.S. Black community, as they often perceive
this group as homogenous in thought, as well as in voting behavior, political party identification,
public policy perceptions and opinions on various political issues.
Additionally, while many researchers have investigated how Black ethnics’ cultural
identities influences their civic participation and engagement (Austin et al., 2011; Hochschild,
Burch, & Weaver, 2004), to date, there is no published academic research specifically exploring how
Black ethnics in the U.S. perceive and respond to political messages intended for a seemingly
homogenous Black audience.
Furthermore, Black people comprise a sizeable portion of the U.S. population. To date, the
U.S. Black population is 41.2 million, or 13 percent of the total population (U.S. Census, 2012).
However, within the next 50 years, the U.S. Census Bureau expects the current number to rise to
61.8 million, which will make Black people, and other people of color, the majority population in the
United States (U.S. Census, 2012). Additionally, Black Caribbeans and Black Africans in the U.S.
currently comprise 12 percent, or nearly five million, of the total U.S. Black population (Thomas,
2012; U.S. Census, 2012), a figure that will continue to grow as more people from these areas
immigrate to the U.S.
Moreover, Black Americans’ increasing political participation is another reason why it was
worth exploring how Black ethnics in the U.S. perceive and respond to political messages intended
for a seemingly homogenous Black audience. In the 2008 and 2012 Presidential Election Cycles,
Black Americans, who also comprised 13 percent of the electorate, voted at higher rates than any
other ethnic group in the U.S. (Associated Press, 2013). Black Americans also surpassed the white
voter turnout rate for the first time in history (Associated Press, 2013). Although political pundits
are still debating whether Black Americans elected and reelected President Barack Obama solely
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
6
because he, too, is a Black American (G.D., 2012; Hengler, 2011; Kim, 2013; Toure, 2012;
Washington, 2012), in forthcoming elections, Black Americans could continue to be a significant
voting bloc.
Finally, the topic I explored also hits very close to home. I am the child of a Black mom who
was born and raised in the South – North Carolina and Florida, respectively – and a Black dad who
immigrated from the Bahamas and became a naturalized U.S. citizen. They are both members of the
Democratic Party. However, I distinctly remember them having different views on certain political
and public policy issues. I speculated that other Black people in the U.S. with different cultural
backgrounds, specifically other Black ethnics from the Caribbean – like my dad – as well as those
from Africa, would also be heterogeneous in thought. Therefore, I interviewed a few of them to get
their thoughts. Stay tuned.
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages serves as a preliminary
academic topic analysis to further the notion that Black America is not alike politically and to
explore how individual members perceive and respond to political messages in the context of their
self-identified cultural identity. This paper consists of three (III) Parts. Part I provides detailed
background information about Black ethnics in the U.S., explains how culture is developed,
addresses the intersection of culture and media, as well as the practice of microtargeting to ethnic
populations. Part II includes findings gleaned from interviews with political outreach experts and
practitioners as well as Caribbean and African Black ethnics who are currently in the U.S. as
naturalized citizens, permanent residents, or students. Part III discusses the findings documented
in Part II, concludes the paper, as well as offers suggestions for further research to help refine
mainstream political communicators’ current perception and understanding of Black America, so
that they can better communicate their political positions and public policy issues to members of
this diverse community.
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
7
Although I conducted interviews to develop the findings for this paper, these findings
cannot and will not be generalized as facts because I did not interview a representative sample of
Black ethnics and experts in the political outreach field. It is also worth mentioning that although
Hispanic-Americans, or Latino-Americans, increased their political presence and power just as
Black Americans did during the 2008 and 2012 election cycles (Abrajano, 2010; Hesson, 2012), this
paper will not focus on them. Additionally, while Asian-Americans are also another group who have
recently received attention for their political power, this paper will not focus on them either.
This paper will dedicate specific attention to the following: (1) Black ethnics who
immigrated from Caribbean/West Indian and African nations and have become naturalized U.S.
citizens; (2) those who are first-generation Black Caribbeans or Africans born and/or raised in the
U.S.; and (3) Black Caribbeans and Africans who are permanent U.S. residents or students pursuing
a degree at a U.S. college or univeristy. Permanent residents are included in this research because
they can vote in local and state elections that do not require them to be U.S. citizens (Center for
Immigration Studies, 2008; Berkeley International Office; Kraft and Associates; Renshon, 2008) and
they might be considering or pursuing full U.S. citizenship. Additionally, students are included in
this paper as they might be strongly considering becoming permanent residents or U.S. citizens, too.
With that said, this paper will not include interviews from undocumented U.S. residents, as U.S. law
prohibits them from registering and voting in local, state, and federal political elections.
Overall, Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages contributes to the
existing academic research of Black ethnics in the U.S. and demonstrates the necessity and
importance of their inclusion in outreach and communications strategies implemented by U.S.
political communicators.
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
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PART I
LITERATURE REVIEW
WHO ARE THE BLACK ETHNICS OF THE U.S.?
The U.S. is renowned for its culturally diverse ethnic population. To date, the most dominant
ethnic groups are people of color comprising of Hispanic-Americans/Latino-Americans, AsianAmericans, and African-Americans. Collectively, these groups make up slightly more than one-third
of the total U.S. population, or nearly 100 million people (U.S. Census, 2012). Of the U.S.’s total
ethnic population, more than 40 million people are classified as African-Americans or Black
Americans (U.S. Census, 2012). Although, they are categorized as such, most people fail to realize
that all people in the U.S. do not identify themselves as African-Americans. With that in mind, it
begs the following question: who are the various Black ethnics living in the U.S.?
In her 2010 book titled, Post Black: How a New Generation is Redefining African American
Identity, Ytasha Womack explained, “Black refers to everybody who’s Black. African American refers
specifically to Blacks in the United States and sometimes the specific culture. Black encompasses a
lot of cultures, and African American is one of those cultures” (Womack, 2010, p.51). Before Black
ethnics are described in detail, an explanation of what constitutes culture and how it is developed is
needed.
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
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CULTURAL IDENTITY COMPOSITION & DEVELOPMENT
Culture is defined as an ever-changing, complex, social construct influenced by several
factors such social as interaction during childhood and adulthood, socioeconomic status, family and
friends, political context and history, among other factors (Hecht, Jackson & Ribeau, 2003; Johnson,
2008; Sullivan & Arbuthnot, 2009; Tatum; 2003). Some researchers use culture interchangeably
with ethnicity and race, both could refer to a person’s physical features such as skin color, eyes, hair
texture and color, and other phenotypes. Additionally, culture consists of shared histories and
traditions that produce patterns of varying attitudes within a group of people, or what academic
researchers refer to as a social system (Hecht, Jackson & Ribeau, 2003).
Research also shows that culture depends on the individual’s and the larger society’s
perspectives. From an individual standpoint, culture is how a particular individual relates,
envisions his or herself, and connects (even partially) with a group of people with whom they might
have commonalities in traditions and histories (Hecht, Jackson & Ribeau, 2003, p. 4). From society’s
standpoint, culture is a descriptive term used to identify large groups of people that have seemingly
similar commonalities traditions and histories, regardless of whether the individual identifies with
the culture society has assigned to them (Hecht, Jackson & Ribeau, 2003, p. 4). This is evident as it
relates to people in the U.S. who are members of the Black Diaspora, or African Diaspora.
The Black Diaspora or African Diaspora – phrases used interchangeably to describe the
scattering of millions of African people and their descendants around the world, yielded differing
cultural and historical nuances amongst people of African descent around the world, particularly
those in the Western Hemisphere (DePaul University; Oldways Preservation Trust). When
mainstream U.S. society judges individual members of the African Diaspora, society assigns these
individuals to the same cultural identity, namely the African-American cultural identity. This is
because these individual members share similar physical features, skin color and, in some cases, a
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
10
similar pattern of political ideology and political party identification as well as the belief that they
are being disadvantaged in some aspects of their lives (Austin et al., 2011; Hochschild, Burch, &
Weaver, 2004; Robinson, 2011; Rogers, 2004). Despite the aforementioned, other suggested that
cultural identity and attitudes are different among people assigned to the same culture because
their individual experiences and encounters differ (Sullivan & Arbuthnot 2009). This is particularly
true as it relates to Black ethnics in the U.S.
AFRICAN-AMERICAN CULTURAL IDENTITY
U.S. society generally assigns all members of the Black Diaspora to the African-American
cultural identity. While there are many factors that comprise the U.S.’s most dominant Black ethnic
identity, one prevalent aspect that is of highest importance deals with the African-American
culture’s historical context.
Many of the individuals who define themselves culturally as African-Americans, or nativeborn U.S. Black Americans, have experiences that are rooted in the U.S.’s deep, dark legacy of
slavery as well as the fight against slavery’s lingering effects of legal, institutional and inequality
(Hecht, Jackson & Ribeau, 2003; Johnson, 2008; Lee, 2004). Hecht, Jackson & Ribeau (2003) also
revealed that African-American culture shares characteristics of White American culture, which has
dominated the larger social structure in which African-American culture coexists.
Members of the African-American culture have been historically behind White Americans in
various socioeconomic factors. For instance, in comparison to White Americans, African-American
unemployment, incarceration, and single-parent household rates have consistently been higher;
and personal wealth accumulation, life expectancy, and education attainment have been lower than
that of White Americans (American Psychological Association; Hecht, Jackson & Ribeau, 2003).
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
11
These aforementioned facts may contribute to the persistent perception within African-American
culture that they are often victims of discrimination.
When it comes to African-Americans’ political identity and behavior in the U.S., the majority
of African-Americans have shown strong support for the two major U.S. political parties since
gaining the right to vote under the 15th Amendment in 1870 (Fact Check.org, 2008). From 1870 to
1932, the majority of African Americans supported the Republican Party, also known as the party of
President Abraham Lincoln (well known for authoring the Emancipation Proclamation that freed
slaves during the Civil War), because they perceived that the Republican Party promoted policies
that favored the advancement of former slaves (Fact Check.org, 2008). By 1932 when U.S. voters
elected President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the majority of African-American voters’ preference
for the Republican Party began to wane and they gradually started voting in favor for Democratic
candidates and policy positions as well as registering as members of the Democratic Party (Fact
Check.org, 2008).
U.S. BLACK CARIBBEANS’ CULTURAL IDENTITY
In addition to African-Americans, Black individuals with Caribbean roots are another
prevailing Black cultural identity within Black America. For the purposes of this paper, Black
Caribbeans are people who immigrated to the U.S. from various Caribbean islands, including but
not limited to Jamaica, Haiti, Trinidad & Tobago, the Bahamas, Barbados, and even Latin American
islands such as the Dominican Republic and Cuba (Thomas, 2012). First-generation CaribbeanAmericans are also included in this description.
Black Caribbeans and African-Americans differ in several ways. For instance, Black
Caribbeans who did not spend their adolescence in the U.S. are likely to identify more with their
native country than the U.S. (Austin et al., 2011). Additionally, Austin et al (2011) found that
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
12
younger, second generation Black Caribbeans identified with the African-American culture, which is
consistent with other literature that found that second- generation and subsequent CaribbeanAmerican generations downplay their Caribbean cultural heritages to assimilate into either
mainstream or African-American cultures (Austin et al., 2011; Waters, 1994).
Moreover, Black Caribbeans do not see race as a unifying factor with African-Americans on
how to approach certain policy issues, nor do they have strong sense of identity with AfricanAmericans (Rogers, 2004). Additionally, with African-Americans less likely to have identified their
roots beyond the borders of the U.S., Black Caribbeans have the ability to resort to identifying with
or returning to their home country (Austin, Middleton,& Yon, 2011; Greer, 2007; Rogers; 2004;
Tatum; 2003; Womack, 2010).
While Black Caribbeans share a history of slavery with African-Americans as well as living
in nations once colonized by Europeans, the fact that Black Caribbeans voluntarily migrated to the
U.S. distinguishes them from African-Americans (Greer, 2007; Lee, 2004). Well-off and free Black
Caribbeans, who may also identify as West Indians, began migrating voluntarily to the U.S. in the
late 19th Century, decades after the abolishment of slavery and near the beginning of racial
segregation in the U.S. (Johnson, 2008). Additionally, language, dialects, religion, social class and
other different cultural nuances, interactions – or lack of interactions – with other members of
various U.S. cultural identities all influence the Black Caribbean identity in the U.S (Rogers, 2004;
Sullivan & Arbuthnot, 2009).
When the first couple of waves of Black Caribbeans arrived in the U.S. in the late 19th
Century and early 20th Century, U.S. society lauded them as “model Blacks” and commended Black
Caribbeans for their strong work ethic and exceptional achievements in higher education among
other characteristics (Johnson, 2008). During the early 20th Century, prominent Black Caribbean
figures who immigrated to the U.S. fought alongside African-Americans against racial inequality
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
13
(Johnson, 2008). However, midway through the 20th Century, particularly when Black Caribbeans
who immigrated after 1965 (the post-civil rights era) arrived, Black Caribbeans’ attitudes and
perceptions of life in the U.S. shifted away from their African-American cultural counterparts’ views
(Johnson, 2008). The new wave of Black Caribbeans after 1965 viewed the U.S. as a society that has
moved beyond the perception that one’s race was a hindrance in rising in society and surpassed
African-Americans in various areas (Johnson, 2008). Black Caribbeans’ new perception of the U.S.
manifested through “their ability to tap into the social and cultural capital” (Johnson, 2008, p. 87)
which prompted them to relatively prosper in the U.S., a place perceived by Black Caribbeans as the
‘land of unlimited opportunities’" (Johnson, 2008, p. 87).
Rogers (2004) discovered in several in-depth interviews with Black Caribbean-Americans
in New York City that there is currently no evidence of stable race-based coalitions between
African-Americans and Black Caribbeans. Additionally, Austin, Middleton,& Yon (2011) found that
Haitian immigrants in Miami are not as likely to identify with African-Americans because they do
not frequently interact with African-Americans; they compete with African-Americans for lowpaying, unskilled jobs; and they do not believe they are discriminated against as much as AfricanAmericans. Johnson (2008) documented consistent behavior with other Black Caribbean groups
she analyzed.
While they tend to share liberal ideologies and Democratic Party preference with AfricanAmericans, Black Caribbeans vary in preferences and perceptions of policy issues (Rogers, 2004).
Additionally, while collecting research for her forthcoming book, The Caribbeanization of Black
Politics: Group Consciousness and Political Participation among African Americans and Black Ethnics
in America, Austin (2011) found that Black Caribbeans’ different experiences lent different political
behavior than African-Americans. For example, Austin found that Haitians residing in South Florida
were “…much more likely to join the Republican Party than other black populations who have been
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
14
in America for generations,” which is different than African-Americans who mostly identify as
Democrats (Austin, 2011).
U.S. BLACK AFRICANS’ CULTURAL IDENTITY
Black Africans in the U.S., or for the purposes of this paper, Black people who voluntarily
immigrated to the U.S. directly from a country on the African continent, are another major Black
ethnic cultural identity within Black America. Their growing presence in the U.S. Black community
has challenged what it means to be a descendant of Africans in the U.S. and drawn comparisons
between them and African-Americans living in New World:
“The wave of new African Immigrants is transforming the African American identity. No
longer can people assume that all Blacks have an affinity for soul food. As part of the African
diaspora, there’s a shared challenge to colonial powers and racism, but cultural nuances
prevail” (Womack, 2010, p.56).
Black African immigrants whose roots stem from several African countries primarily those
in West Africa, as well as Kenya, Ethiopia and Egypt, began migrating voluntarily to U.S. throughout
the latter half of the 20th Century (Johnson, 2008; McCabe, 2011). The majority either immigrated
from war-torn and economically oppressed nations, or came as students and workers (Johnson,
2008; McCabe, 2011). One aspect that sets Black African immigrants from their African-American
counterparts was that Black African immigrants were well known for being talented, middle class,
educated, and professional people who fled to the European nations such as Britain and France,
which once colonized their native countries (Johnson, 2008; Womack, 2010). Similarly to Black
Caribbeans, Black Africans that migrated to the U.S. were regarded as “model Blacks,” particularly
for their achievements in higher education, which surpassed the rates of their African-American,
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
15
White-American, Hispanic-American, and Asian-American counterparts (Johnson, 2008). Amy Chua
and Jed Rubenfeld’s New York Times “What Drives Success?” opinion article described the “model
Black” accomplishments that Black Africans as well as Black Caribbeans have achieved within the
U.S. higher education realm:
“Immigrants from many West Indian and African countries, such as Jamaica, Ghana, and
Haiti, are climbing America’s higher education ladder, but perhaps the most prominent are
Nigerians. Nigerians make up less than 1 percent of the [B]lack population in the United
States, yet in 2013 nearly one-quarter of the [B]lack students at Harvard Business School
were of Nigerian ancestry; over a fourth of Nigerian-Americans have a graduate or
professional degree, as compared with only about 11 percent of whites” (Chua and
Rubenfeld, 2014).
In terms of social interaction, like Black Caribbeans, Black Africans also distanced
themselves from African-Americans and persevered despite the discrimination African-Americans
perceived. Additionally, when first-generation African migrants come to Western countries, namely
the U.S., they often hold a negative view of African-Americans based on what they learned about
African-Americans via Western media while in residing in Africa (Womack, 2010). Furthermore,
Black Africans often move into white residential neighborhoods when immigrating to the U.S. and
do not think of themselves as being Black, or African-American (Womack, 2010).
V ARYING L EVELS OF U.S. B LACK I DENTITY
Ethnic cultural identity researchers acknowledge the diversity of Black America, yet they
are at odds on how prevalent linked fate, or how much an individual’s life decisions are
wholeheartedly connected to their entire race or culture, exists between Black ethnics in the U.S.
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
16
(Austin, Middleton,& Yon, 2011; Simien, 2005; Sullivan & Arbuthnot, 2009). In Rogers’ 2004 study
titled Race-Based Coalitions Among Minority Groups: Afro-Caribbean Immigrants and AfricanAmericans in New York City, found that there were no existing stable coalitions between AfricanAmericans and Black ethnics in communities across the country. Conversely, Austin, Middleton,
and Yon’s (2011) The Effects of Racial Group Consciousness on the Political Participation of African
Americans and Black Ethnics in Miami-Dade County, Florida, identified a group consciousness
between Black ethnics.
In addition to the debate about the prevalence of linked fate, within the African-American
cultural identity, there are differences in attitudes and association to the African-American culture
among individual members. Amongst members of the African-American culture, there is an ongoing
debate about “What is Blackness?” or “Are you Black enough?” (Mensah, 2012). In 1971, and in a
revised version thirty years later, William E. Cross, Jr. and Beverly Vandiver et al, designed a
landmark Black Identity theory known as the Cross Racial Identity Scale (CRIS) that explained the
different psychological scales of African-American Identity. The scale ranged from the following
attitude patterns (Vandiver, Cross et al, 2001):
1. African-Americans who had attitudes and identities that closely reflected assimilation or
conformity into White American or mainstream U.S. culture;
2. African-Americans who have an affinity to the African-American culture over another
(might identify themselves as “pro-black”);
3. African-Americans with a disdain for White Americans and White American culture;
4. African-Americans who expressed using their appreciation for African-American culture to
achieve cultural solidarity; and
5. African-Americans with a willingness to interact with members of differing cultural and
lifestyle backgrounds in comparison to his or her own.
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
17
Although this model was designed with African-Americans in mind, the model could also be
applied to the attitudes expressed by Black Caribbeans and Black Africans in the U.S. Additionally,
the aforementioned attitudes are important to scrutinize, as they might affect how members of this
particular cultural identity may view or interpret information they receive.
CULTURAL STUDIES: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
A cultural studies theoretical framework is the best way to understand how Black
Caribbean and Black African cultural identities in the U.S. perceive and respond to political
messages.
Cultural studies research focuses on how different media (television, radio, the Internet,
newspapers, books, magazines, sound recordings, and films) teach its various audiences about the
world, as well as how many audiences vary in their interpretation and response to messages in
media based on an array of personal factors such as lifestyle, race and socioeconomic status
(Kellner, 2011). Cultural studies theory also includes an explanation of how messages in media are
produced; how audiences interpret, or decode, the messages they receive via media; how dominant
groups that own and manage media play a major role in influencing and distributing information;
and how often messages are distributed (Byrd, 1993; Grossberg, 2006; Hall, 2001; Hecht, 2003;
Kellner, 2011; Lull, 2011; Tatum, 2003).
MESSAGE PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION PROCESS
Stuart Hall, a Jamaican-born and British-educated researcher is often cited as the Father of
Cultural Studies. Hall (2001) critiqued the traditional communication process, which is described
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
18
as a single organization that creates a message, sends it via one of the forms of media which then is
sent to several audiences. Hall (2001) suggested that this process should be a series of four linked
distinctive moments with phases dedicated to production, circulation, distribution/consumption,
and reproduction, with particular attention to the production phase in what he calls his theory of
encoding and decoding.
In the production phase, the sender initiates the communication process by creating a
message that he or she assumes the audience would (1) have a familiarity with, and (2) be able to
interpret the sender’s message as it was intended to be received (Hall, 2001). He emphasized that
when audiences interpret a message they receive, they decode the message based on how their own
culture has taught them about that particular message (Hall, 2001). If the message’s receiver does
not decode, or understand, the meaning of the message they have received, there is an interruption,
which means that no communication has taken place (Hall, 2001).
So what are messages? Messages are comprised of codes, and codes can take the form of
text, visuals, or sounds (Hall, 2001). The meanings of codes are not innate, instead, they are
assigned by the culture that created them (Hall, 2001). Additionally, a culture can assign different
meanings for one code (Grossberg, 2006; Hall, 2001). Since every culture has made up its own set
of codes, it is important that when messengers create a message, they give clues to the audience
about the context in which they are using a code in a particular message they are sending to their
targeted audience (Grossberg, 2006; Hall, 2001). The aforementioned goes back to Hall’s emphasis
on the encoding and decoding phase of the communication process.
MESSAGE DISTRIBUTION IN U.S. MASS MEDIA
To understand how messages are produced and distributed, it is important to consider the
forces of power who are responsible for the majority of messages sent out via U.S. mainstream
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
19
media. These forces, which are directly related to an issue known as hegemony, are the power or
dominance one social class holds over another (Lull, 2011). The dominating social class within a
social system is often the group who has the most power in controlling what the subordinate social
classes learn from mainstream mass media and how these other social classes learn about the
behaviors and identities of others within the same society(Lull, 2011) . The hegemonic forces
behind U.S. mass media – particularly conglomerates of mainstream newspapers, online media,
television networks – tend to be primarily wealthy, white men who have always dominated U.S.
culture and society (Lull, 2011).
In U.S. mainstream society, Blacks, and other non-white, wealthy groups of people are
considered the subordinate social classes, which is problematic as it relates to how the dominant
group perceives the subordinate groups. In her book titled "Why are all the Black kids sitting
together in the cafeteria?": And other conversations about race, Tatum (2003, p. 23) suggested that
in the relationship between the dominant social class and the surbordinates, the dominant groups
are not entirely privy to the experiences of the subordinates. Therefore, when communicating to
the subordinates, the dominant social group does not attempt to address the experiences, identities
or behaviors of the subordinates at all, particularly when messaging to them.
POLITICAL MESSAGING TO BLACK AUDIENCES
Existing in a society where there is a population with diverse interests, preferences, cultural
backgrounds, in addition to an array of media platforms to communicate and receive messages,
communicators have increasingly refined the way they create and distribute messages to their
intended audiences. This is especially true in the world of political communication where a
technique known as microtargeting has become a new standard of outreach.
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
20
Microtargeting entails how communicators gather information about an audience to whom
they are trying to communicate a message and then create tailored and relatable messages that
directly to the interests of that particular audience (Cornfield, 2007). The information these
communicators gather range from range consumer and credit card purchases, drivers’ license
records, criminal records, gun ownership records, subscription to newspapers, mortgage
information, among other lifestyle and personal data (Schipper & Woo, 2012).
U.S. audiences have taken notice to microtargeting. Four months prior to the conclusion of
the 2012 Election Cycle, a study with a respondent sample that nearly mirrored the current racial
composition of the U.S. found that that 86 percent of Americans opposed politically microtargeted
advertisements (Turow et al, 2012). While the majority of Americans are opposed, the study also
found that 22 percent of Blacks/African-Americans who responded to the survey were more
favorable to microtargeted political ads, as compared to the White (12 percent), Hispanic (19
percent), and other ethnic non-Hispanic respondents (11 percent) (Turow et al, 2012).
When specifically messaging to special niche audiences as it relates to politics,
microtargeting ushers in a political messaging technique known as “dog-whistle politics,” where the
codes used to create the messages are encoded and noticeable to the audiences it was intended to
reach, despite using a medium that includes non-targeted audiences (Schipper & Woo, 2012). When
most communicators identify their target audience for their messages, they generally use rational
appeals or emotional appeals to make their messages as relatable as possible, or to evoke a certain
response from the audience.
When predominately Black audiences are targeted, communicators often appeal to them
using messages that appeal to race. Research suggests that racial appeals can be implicit or explicit
(Mendleburg, 2008). Implicit racial appeals use people, places, things and ideas, or descriptive
codes that hint at “white privilege” (Mendelburg, 2008). “’White privilege refers to a myriad of
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
21
social advantages, benefits, and courtesies that come with being a member of a dominant race”
(Delgado & Stefancic, 2001, p. 78). Implicit appeals also convey racial stereotypes, and
communicate messages that could imply that anything Black is unfavorable and undesirable
(Mendleburg, 2008). Explicit appeals express the codes used in implicit appeals more overtly, so
that the target audience clearly understands the message the communicator is sending to them
(Mendleburg, 2008). In addition, a person’s skin tone, which is a code in image form, is often
perpetuated in racial appeals (Caliendo & McIlwain, 2009).
In a study about the usage of racial appeals in the television ads of Black and white political
candidates, the researchers determined that both racial groups used implicit racial appeals in their
ads and that they use them for different reasons (Caliendo and McIlwain, 2009). The study also
determined that when white and Black candidates ran for the same elected position, the white
candidates used implicit racial appeals to attack their Black opponents while Black candidates used
implicit appeals to advocate and focus on substantive issues rather than talking about their
opponent’s character (Caliendo and McIlwain, 2009).
Racial appeals used in messaging could lead to differences of attitudes and perceptions
within the Black community (Caliendo and McIlwain, 2009). One study that closely elaborates on
the aforementioned notion is on The Effects of Black Identity on Candidate Evaluations. The
researchers suggested that a variation of Black identity and other characteristics including how
much of a connection the person perceiving the candidate had a connection to their own race
(Sullivan & Arbuthnot, 2009). The aforesaid supports the available research that suggests that
Black American political attitudes are formulated and interpreted based on their racial group
identity (Valentino, Hutchings, & White, 2007). Additionally, “if people do not identify strongly with
their ethnic group, ethnic group membership is unlikely to be a predictor of behavior or response to
an advertisement,” or any other message (Holland & Gentry, 1999).
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
22
MICROTARGETING TO OTHER U.S. BLACK ETHNICS
With regards to microtargeting to members of Black America, most research examines how
political messages are intended for those belonging or ascribing to the African-American culture. To
date, there is no specific academic research exploring how Black ethnics, namely Black Caribbeans
and Black Africans, perceive and interpret the same messages received by African-Americans. This
might be because there are not a lot of examples or case studies that demonstrate microtargeting to
these groups.
One known case of microtargeting to Black ethnics took place in 2009 during the Hon.
Michael Bloomberg’s last campaign bid to become the mayor of New York City, the U.S.’s most
ethnically diverse city. During this campaign, Bloomberg’s campaign team hired TargetPoint
Consulting, a company credited for pioneering microtargeting (Kugler, 2009). The team reached out
to nearly 900,000 New York City residents using 75 different robocalls aimed at persuading them to
vote (Kugler, 2009). In addition to reaching out to Chinese-Americans and other non-Black ethnics,
the campaign reached out to Caribbean-voters, primarily in English “…with a Caribbean lilt” in the
automated callers voice (Kugler, 2009). To date, there is currently no research capturing what these
Black ethnics thought about the call.
In Part I, we have learned about who comprised the Black ethnics in the U.S., how cultural
theory explains the topic at hand, what researchers have determined about Black identity’s role in
the political context, and one case of how communicators currently target Black ethnics. With
nearly five million Black Caribbeans and Black Africans currently documented to be living in the
U.S., we should take the lead in discovering how other political outreach experts have targeted
these groups.
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
23
PART II
FINDINGS
THOUGHTS FROM THE EXPERTS
In Part I, we learned that there is extensive research with regards to the differences and
similarities between the Black ethnics living in the U.S. Additionally, while microtargeting,
specifically to Black ethnics for political purposes is something that is relatively unexplored in the
academic world, it is certainly being practiced elsewhere, as evidenced by the Hon. Michael
Bloomberg’s example.
To learn more about how outreach is conducted to Black ethnics throughout the U.S., I
conducted five semi-structured interviews with six experts. Although I reached out to numerous
experts, including the Pioneer of Microtargeting, Alex Gage of Target Point Consulting, all of the
experts turned out to be Black Americans. Four of the interviewees were are political outreach
consultants and practitioners, one was an analyst/former journalist, and one was a political science
professor.
Collectively, they emphasized the interest in microtargeting to Black ethnics and
incorporating them into their outreach strategies, as well as the importance of understanding why
the U.S. Black community is not homogenous.
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
24
The experts also expressed that Black ethnics are not a monolith and that there is not
enough data on Black ethnics. They also discussed the lessons they have learned in conducting
outreach to Black ethnics, including the common messages or issues that resonate with Black
ethnics, and whether microtargeting should continue in the future.
BLACK ETHNICS IN AMERICA ARE NOT A MONOLITH
In each of the interviews I conducted, I did not mention Alfred Liggins’ opinion (Liggins
2008) about Black America not being a monolithic. With that said, all of the interviewees mentioned
in one way or another that the U.S. Black Community is diverse and not many candidates,
advertisers, or political communicators are aware of this nor are they using this fact to their
advantage.
Sam Fulwood, Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress and a former journalist,
said that when it comes to microtargeting to the Black cultures in the U.S., throughout his more than
two decades of experience, he has not seen candidates and communicators microtarget specifically
to Black ethnics:
“There's not a lot of segmentation or any intra-race segmentation,” he said. “ I think they
tend to look at the Black Vote...all politicians tend to look at the Black Vote, Black voters as
monolithic, and they’re sort of trying to calibrate the variations within the Black community
is beyond their expertise and their interest. Having said this, some candidates actually do
better than others” (S. Fulwood, personal communication, March 18, 2014).
Additionally, Etoy Ridgnal suggested that other communicators recognize the importance of
incorporating all of Black America’s cultures into their microtargeting outreach efforts:
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
25
“People often isolate the African-American community,” Ridgnal, the National Director of
African-American Engagement at Enroll America, began. “We're a community that is
quite broad and quite diverse. I think it's more appropriate to say people of African
descent…it encompasses everyone in our ethnic group” (E. Ridgnal, personal
communication, March 4, 2014).
She also thought it was intriguing that political communicators segmented the Hispanic and
Asian populations, or recognized the various cultural identities within the Hispanic and Asian
communities (e.g. Mexican-Americans, Cuban-Americans, Korean-Americans, Indian-Americans,
etc.), but have yet to do the same for U.S. Black ethnics:
"It's an interesting thing... For some reason, and I don't know why, immigrants of African
descent are not treated in the same fashion as immigrants from other countries,” Ridgnal
said. “There's a lot of interesting work about folks on immigration issues, but it’s heavily
focused on Latino and Asian cohorts. Any work to advance awareness around African
immigrants and the diversity of the African-American population would be extremely
helpful" (E. Ridgnal, personal communication, March 4, 2014).
Stefanie Brown James, former National African American Vote Director for the 2012
President Barack Obama for America Campaign, also mentioned that the Black community is “not a
monolith,” and offered a factual reminder that, “…people don’t agree within their own families,” and
it is a mistake that people would think that the Black community in the U.S. are any different (S.B.
James & Q. James, personal communication, March 13, 2014).
In addition to not being a monolith, James, who also served as the NAACP’s National Field
Director recalled the first time she realized that African-American was not a welcomed term for all
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
26
Black Ethnics. The Ohio-native said that while addressing a group on one of her many campaign
trails, she did not think about how others thought about the widely-used term “African-American”
until Black ethnics informed her that they preferred the term “Black” instead (S.B. James & Q. James,
personal communication, March 13, 2014).
James’ business partner and husband, Quentin James, who currently serves in an outreach
leadership position for the Ready for Hillary Campaign, said that the Ready for Hillary team also
realized the importance of including all members of the Black Diaspora in outreach efforts and
recently changed the name of the campaign’s African-American Outreach to Black Outreach (S.B.
James & Q. James, personal communication, March 13, 2014).
NOT ENOUGH DATA ON BLACK ETHNICS
While many of the experts iterated that they recognize and know first-hand how Black
ethnics in the U.S. are not monolithic, microtargeting to them involves a great amount of guesswork
or trial and error. According to Ridgnal, “outreach efforts are really data driven” (E. Ridgnal,
personal communication, March 4, 2014). This poses a problem for communicators who are
implementing outreach to Black ethnics because there is just not enough data as it relates to Black
ethnics. The James’s agreed that more data is definitely needed.
Sharon Wright Austin, Ph. D., who is a professor of political science at the University of
Florida shared her insight as it relates to the Black ethnic community. Austin, who was inspired to
research the intersection of politics and Caribbean Americans after listening to the various stories
of her past Haitian and Jamaican students, mentioned the complexity of collecting data on Black
ethnics:
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
27
“It would be difficult to compile because there are not a lot of records for Black immigrants,
and usually, unless you're in a city like Miami or New York City, Black immigrants are just
seen as African-American people,” she said. “As far as political data, it's very difficult to find
and even…pinpoint the population before 2000. It would be difficult to find. So as far as
getting that information, it's possible that it could be done, but there’s just no recorded data.
It would take years if someone is trying to write some booklet or manuscript, but it would
take two to three years or more” (S.D. Austin, personal communication, April 1, 2014).
When it comes to the accumulation of data regarding Black ethnics, Fulwood said. “More
information is always better than less information” (S. Fulwood, personal communication,
March 18, 2014)" However, he is skeptical as to how effective campaigns would be able to use the
data for political advertising efforts:
“I don't think it would make sense for a campaign to invest in that kind of campaigning
because there's a lot of waste. But advertising in it of its self is wasteful because you're
sending a message out and you don't really know if you're hitting the audience that you
really want to hit… Bloomberg in New York was having someone with a Caribbean accent in
his ads, he doesn't know that it's going to appeal to a Caribbean audience and a whole lot of
people who aren't Caribbean are going to hear it, so it's inefficient,” Fulwood said (S.
Fulwood, personal communication, March 18, 2014).
LESSONS LEARNED IN BLACK ETHNIC OUTREACH EFFORTS
Although many of the experts expressed that there is little data on Black ethnics, many said
that the data is scarce on the national level, but if the outreach efforts are handled on a state-by-
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
28
state, city-by-city, or neighborhood-by-neighborhood basis, the information is slightly more
available.
Many of the experts mentioned that it is likely that microtargeted outreach is occuring in
places such as New York City, Miami Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago because they are
communities where communicators cannot simply ignore the diverse populations that reside in
these cities. In these localities, data is collected and they are publically accessible, according to
Ridgnal and Quentin James (E. Ridgnal, personal communication, March 4, 2014; S.B. James & Q.
James, personal communication, March 13, 2014). Additionally, there are a lot of lessons they have
learned while trying to compile their own data and communicate with Black ethnics.
For example, in Ridgnal’s current role at Enroll America, the non-profit organization
connects its state-based staff with the state chapters or offices of national organizational partners
to increase the number of Affordable Care Act enrollees. She said that many of the staff go door to
door and are well versed in effectively communicating with the populations they are assigned to
conduct outreach (E. Ridgnal, personal communication, March 4, 2014). They are well-versed
because under Ridgnal’s leadership, Enroll America has several toolkits, which brief staff about the
cultural nuances of the various Black ethnics in the U.S. (Enroll America).
Ridgnal said that on a case-by-case basis, the people they reach out to have different views
and receptions of being microtargeted (E. Ridgnal, personal communication, March 4, 2014).
“There are some folks who prefer to be considered American and treated like everyone else
versus being treated as their population, and there are others who appreciate their distinction," she
said (E. Ridgnal, personal communication, March 4, 2014).
Quentin James also emphasized that when conducting outreach to Black ethnics, it is
important to structure the campaign so that people can self-select if they want to be reached out to
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
29
as a member of the Black Community (S.B. James & Q. James, personal communication, March
13, 2014).
Ridgnal also said that one of Enroll America’s national partners performs outreach to the
Cameroonian American Council which mentioned that not many people and groups have connected
with them specifically:
“I think people definitely appreciate when you come and right away you know their right of
ways. You know their backgrounds, you know their country, you have demonstrated some
respect and have taken the time to get to know who they are and you allow them to say to
you it's OK, I'm comfortable with this or I'm comfortable with that” (E. Ridgnal, personal
communication, March 4, 2014).
Reverend Dr. Joe Ellison, who serves as the Virginia Republican Party’s Director for MultiEthnic Engagement, has also figured out a way to engage with ethnics in the U.S.:
“I found that many of the immigrants I talked to are so happy to first be in America, being
somewhere that they can start building a future,” Ellison said. “That's when you can sharing
your values and I think a lot of them come here not committed to anybody. You have to
learn the political process. They have to vote for what's important to them…They are
attracted to a candidate or politician who is sympathetic to their cause” (J. Ellison, personal
communication, February 28, 2014).
Working in the Commonwealth of Virginia, which has one of the top populations of African
immigrants in the nation, Ellison also said that, “"It's about building relationships. Can't just go in
there and say vote Republican" (J. Ellison, personal communication, February 28, 2014).
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
30
While it might not be as easy to persuade a new immigrant to vote in favor of a particular
political party, it might not be an arduous task persuading U.S. Black ethnics from the Caribbean
and Africa to become politically active.
According to Dr. Austin, Black ethnics who were politically active in their home countries or
had difficulties being politically active, tend to be politically active when they arrive to the U.S. They
are also more concerned about the political environment of their native countries.
“For example, in Haiti, they don't have the same political freedoms that they have here in
America, or even that of other Black ethnics have in other countries, but I'm finding that if
they're active in their home country, for example like Dominicans, they're very active
politically in their home countries,” she said. “Once they move to America, usually if they
have dual citizenship, they remain active in their home countries, but they are also active in
American politics as well” (S.D. Austin, personal communication, April 1, 2014).
Messaging to Black Ethnics
Quentin James and Ellison both suggested that from their experiences, the top three issues
that Black ethnics consider to be important to them when they become citizens are the economy,
education, and community safety (S.B. James & Q. James, personal communication, March 13, 2014;
J. Ellison, personal communication, February 28, 2014).
Austin, who is currently writing a book titled The Caribbeanization of Black Politics: Group
Consciousness and Political Participation among African Americans and Black Ethnics in America also
suggested that Black ethnics do have a sense of group consciousness with African-Americans and
know that depending on how African-Americans are treated, they [Black ethnics] will be affected,
too (S.D. Austin, personal communication, April 1, 2014).
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
31
MICROTARGETING TO BLACK ETHNICS IN THE FUTURE
As previously mentioned, the U.S. Census predicts that people of the African Diaspora living
in the U.S. will be one of the majority populations in the nation within the next 40 years. With that
projection in mind, some of the experts believed that microtargeting to Black ethnics could be
worthwhile.
Austin (personal communication, April 1, 2014) was one of those experts who shared that
belief:
"I think it'll be possible to target them, and I think that in the future as the demographics
continue to change in this country and as more people of color continue to immigrate into
the country,I think there's going to be more outreach efforts politically,” Austin said.
“Politicians are going to understand that these are people who come to this country as
immigrants but in the future they're going to be citizens and they’re going to have the ability
to vote. I can see in the future [Black ethnics] being more visible in communities especially
when they tend to live among each other. So as you see more people coming to this country,
moving here, and establishing themselves, especially when they're kind of geographically
concentrated and live next to each other in certain neighborhoods, you're going to see more
politicians targeting them there.”
Ridgnal (personal communication, March 4, 2014) said that with regards to her thoughts, it
is two-fold:
“On the one hand, I think it’s a beautiful thing. I think we're going to a place as a culture
where it's going to be too hard to tell. When you dissect someone's heritage, you're
probably looking at five different cultures, and after a while it becomes a moot point. I look
forward to that day, I truly do,” she said. “I think on the flip side of that, there is value to
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
32
owning culture and ancestry and uniqueness. And I think because we are still in a phase in
our country where Blackness is still very monolithic it's not as defined as I think it deserves
to be, it has not received the level of appreciation and respect as an actual culture instead of
this group of people. I think it's still important for us to be recognized as people of distinct
cultures and backgrounds...The more we are able to be distinguished it creates a different
respect for us as a culture...creates a place for that where we as a people are respected and I
think we move to a place where an evolutionary mix appears.”
PERSPECTIVES OF BLACK CARIBBEANS AND AFRICANS IN THE U.S.
After learning about how political experts research, report on, and conduct outreach to
Black ethnics, I thought it was imperative to supplement their thoughts with the perspectives and
opinions of Black Caribbeans and Black Africans, especially after learning that there was little to no
data about them as it relates to their perception and reception to U.S. political messages. To
accomplish this, I interviewed eight Black ethnics and recorded their perspectives on a variety of
themes.
After reaching out to several people living in the U.S. who either have Black Caribbean
backgrounds or have a direct lineage to the continent of Africa, I was able to obtain the perspectives
of three Black Caribbeans and five people who voluntarily immigrated from an African nation. I
have used pseudonyms to respect the participants’ privacy. They represented the following
nations: the Bahamas, Jamaica, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, and
Kenya. Six out of the eight respondents were women and the other two were men. With regards to
educational level, all have some college or above, including master’s degrees, law degrees and those
working on a post-doctoral degree (Ph.D.). Additionally, they were all older than the legal U.S.
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
33
voting age. Furthermore, four of the respondents were citizens: two of whom are first generation
Americans who were born and raised in the U.S. by parents who immigrated from the Caribbean
and Africa, as well as one naturalized citizen, and one who was automatically granted U.S.
citizenship due to being born in a U.S. territory. The four remaining Black ethnics were permanent
U.S. residents or recipients of student visas who have been in the U.S. for more than five years.
During eight semi-structured one-on-one-interviews, I asked the interviewees several
questions and their responses fell into four major themes that would be most helpful to exploring
how Black ethnics in the U.S. perceive and respond to the political messages typically created and
distributed for African-American audiences. These themes include their preferred cultural selfidentification description, their media consumption habits, history of their political participation,
and how they respond to culturally-specific political messages.
CULTURAL SELF-IDENTIFICATION
H OW DO B LACK E THNICS R ELATE AND I DENTIFY WITH “A FRICAN -A MERICAN ,”
“B LACK ,” AND “B LACK A MERICAN ”?
Nearly all of the respondents expressed an issue about how they related and identified with
terms primarily used to describe all Black people in the U.S., which ranged from “AfricanAmerican,” “Black,” and “Black-American.”
BainBain, a respondent who immigrated to the U.S. from the Bahamas to attend school in
1977, was the only respondent who did not have an issue with identifying himself as a BlackAmerican and African-American. However, he said when people ask about his ethnicity, he tells
them that he is Bahamian-American (Bain, personal communication, March 16, 2014).
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
34
Bain, who is a naturalized U.S. citizen, was not the only respondent to hyphenate his home
country with the term “American.” Both interviewees who are first generation Americans did the
same.
Although she was not born in Jamaica, Grant, a first-generation American, definitely
considers herself a Jamaican. Her parents immigrated from the island-nation to the U.S. for better
rights and better education:
“If someone asks me where I’m from, I say I’m from New York,” Grant said. “If someone asks
me ‘what am I?’ I say I’m Jamaican or ‘Jamerican,’ but as far as ethnicity, I always associate
myself with Jamaica because just because you’re not born there doesn’t mean you’re not
identified. I know my culture more than a lot of people who are actually born there” (Grant,
personal communication, March 28, 2014).
Addy, a first generation American born and raised in the U.S., also identifies herself with her
parents’ native country.
“I would say that I typically identify myself as Black female, but it kind of depends on the
context though I do identify as West African also as Ghanaian also as American,” Addy said (ddy,
personal communication, March 19, 2014).
Drew, a native of St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands (USVI) who moved to the U.S.
when he was in high school still identifies with his Caribbean roots, especially since he has family
there and spent the majority of his childhood there.
"If someone asked me what my citizenship was, I'd say American,” Drew began. “But ethnic
background, I'd say West Indian. That’s where I immigrated from, that's where I'm from...It shaped
a significant portion of my world view" (Drew, personal communication, March 18, 2014).
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
35
The remaining Black ethnics – Haile, Ndolo , Dempah, and Yola– who also legally
immigrated to the U.S., say that they are Ethiopian, Kenyan, Ivorian, and Nigerian, respectively
(Haile, personal communication, March 20, 2014; Ndolo, personal communication, March 23, 2014;
Yola, personal communication, March 22, 2014).
Haile, a U.S. resident for nearly 10 years, emphasized that her Ethiopian ties remain strong,
although she lives in the U.S:
“I say I’m Ethiopian, but if it’s an application of course there’s no option to say other than
Black or African-American so I categorize myself as that, but I don’t feel that represents me.
I’m not just Black, I’m not an African-American, I’m Ethiopian. I was born in Ethiopia, I was
raised in Ethiopia by Ethiopian parents, so definitely I had my identity when I came here
and that just doesn’t describe me and that’s how I feel” (Haile, personal communication,
March 20, 2014).
When it came to their perceptions about whether they related or identified with “AfricanAmerican,” “Black,” and Black-American, both Dempah and Addy felt that “African-American” was a
“politically-correct” description (Dempah, personal communication, March 18, 2014; D. Addy,
personal communication, March 19, 2014). Additionally, some of the interviewees had relatively
differing and eye-opening responses.
Drew shared his reluctance to identifying himself as an African-American as well as using
Black-American:
"I don't really like using [Black]. Even if I write, and I'm referring to Black, I say Black
American,” he said. “And the reason why I don't want to use that term African-American...I
prefer the phrase ‘descendants of the African Diaspora’ versus ‘African-American.’ It is a
mouthful, but to me, it captures the fact that we are not monolithic. We are people that came
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
36
from areas of West Africa, we're even living in South America, the Caribbean, or the US... I
use Black-American strictly as a political term. To me, black, white, that dichotomy
represents more...It's a major indicator of your wealth, major indicator of your income, of
the demographics...When it comes to cultural, I don't like it as a cultural nomenclature…If a
black person told me, 'hey, I'm from Detroit,’ I'll accept that."...rather than forcing them to
identify as Black" (DrewDrew, personal communication, March 18, 2014).
While Grant felt that African-American was a formal term, she had some pushback
concerning “Black” and “Black-American”:
“I would not lie, but a lot of island people do use the term Black-American and that’s a fact
that they’re looking down on Black Americans,” she said. “The term African-American is
more politically acceptable, but the term Black American, to me, is more of a stereotype.
Honestly when island people say Black American they are referring to the guys on the
corner with the dreads and the golds and their car is louder than Lord knows what, they’re
rims are worth more than the car. So to me, if I were to use the term, it’s not out of respect.
If someone were to refer to me as a Black-American, I would take offense to it” (Grant,
personal communication, March 28, 2014).
Yola, a Nigerian immigrant who –out of all the interviewees – was the most recent
immigrant to the U.S., had interesting views about both terms, as well. She said that when she is
filling out applications, she has no choice but to select African-American/Black, but feels differently
about both terms:
“I think [African-American] is loaded because I think African-American by physical features
maybe makes sense, but culturally, not quite because I don’t think that the African element
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
37
is understood by the African-American, at least not by all. I think it’s a complex term,
personally. But I don’t think a better term has been created” (Yola, personal communication,
March 22, 2014).
Before coming to the U.S. to pursue her post-secondary education, Yola (personal
communication, March 22, 2014) said she had no issue with the term “Black.” Now that she has
gained an understanding of the context in which it is used in the U.S., she has concerns about its
usage as well as how it applies to other members of the African Diaspora. Prior to pursuing her
master’s degree, Yola (personal communication, March 22, 2014) served as president of her
undergraduate institution’s Black Student Association. She said it was difficult for people,
particularly the students from Africa and the Caribbean to connect to the organization despite its
use of the descriptor “Black” (Yola, personal communication, March 22, 2014).
“Black could be unifying but it could also be separating as well,” she said (Yola, personal
communication, March 22, 2014).
POLITICAL PARTICIPATION HISTORY
Of the four respondents who are U.S. citizens, three out of four – Drew, Addy, and Bain – are
registered to vote and have voted in local, state, and federal elections. The youngest of the Black
ethnics I interviewed, Grant, chooses not to register to vote and has never voted in a political
election.
Political Party Affiliation and Top Issues
Although she has opted out of registering to vote, Grant affiliates with the Republican Party:
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
38
“I’m a Republican but I have Democratic views,” Grant said as she described herself. “And
most people might say why not say Democratic. I’m still traditional on a lot of different
things, but that’s the problem with a lot of people, they vote for the party no matter what. I
identify myself as 100 percent Republican but it doesn’t mean that the last term, a
Republican president would have not been best for the country, so I would not have voted
Republican despite the fact that I identify myself as a Republican. But in terms of voting, I
would vote whatever party that’s doing the best for the country. But my family are
Democrats” (Grant, personal communication, March 28, 2014).
While Bain and Addy are members of the Democratic Party (Bain, personal communication,
March 16, 2014; D. Addy, personal communication, March 19, 2014), Drew, who has been
registered to vote since 1983, has affiliated himself with the U.S.’s major political parties. Within the
last half-dozen years, he has completely disassociated himself:
“I have abandoned both political parties,” Drew said. “I was a registered Democrat for 16
years, but then I switched to the Republican Party in '98, and I was a Republican up until
October 2, 2008. And the date stands out because I think it was the third debate between
McCain and Obama and I got so tired of it…I'm not a member of either party" (Drew,
personal communication, March 18, 2014).
Ndolo (personal communication, March 23,2014), who was eager to learn more about
which states and localities allow permanent residents to vote, said that if she were able to register,
she would register as either a Democrat or an Independent who would still probably vote in favor
of the left’s (liberal’s) views. She decided this while expressing her support for raising the
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
39
minimum wage and gay marriage, as well as favoring the pro-choice side of the continuous abortion
debate:
"I just think people should be able to do whatever they want if they are not harming any
one. Again, in that regard I fall to the left in the political landscape," she said. "I think in
general my politics are just guided by do you help other people or do you let other people
struggle and figure it out on their own" (Ndolo, personal communication, March 23, 2014).
Like Ndolo, all of the interviewed Black ethnics had an interest and followed several U.S.
political news, issues, and debates – even if they are not registered voters or did not consider
themselves as political enthusiasts. Some of the issues or political themes they mentioned closely
related to social justice and race relations, education, healthcare, and the most mentioned – issues
related to the economy, specifically as it relates to economic development, empowerment, and
independence.
The immigration issue was another important concern for a few of the interviewees,
particularly mentioned by a couple of them who were from Africa or identified themselves as a
Black African in addition to being American. One particular aspect of the immigration debate that
Dempah, a permanent resident from Cote D’Ivoire who completed her undergraduate studies at a
historically prestigious college for women and obtained her doctoral degree in the U.S., had an issue
with was limited inclusion of African people as well as immigrants from the Caribbean:
"Sometimes I don't think we're the ones that are talked about in the immigration issue. I
don't feel like it includes Africans at all,” she expressed. “A lot of African people that live
here, I feel like a lot of them kind of like me: they came legally for school or something. In
order for the immigration debate to be more relevant to Africans is they have to address
these populations” (Dempah, personal communication, March 18, 2014).
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
40
Dempah also felt that the majority of the issues within the current immigration debate dealt
with immigrants gaining permanent resident status via their employer. She suggested that one way
to make the issue more relatable for African and Caribbean immigrants is by setting policies that
would address the financial means for students who come from extreme circumstances ( Dempah,
personal communication, March 18, 2014).
BLACK ETHNICS’ POLITICAL NEWS CONSUMPTION HABITS
All of the interviewees said that they consume U.S. political news. A few indicated that they
consume U.S. news daily for about an hour a day or a weekly basis. Some of the most popular media
mentioned were television – such as CNN and local news – radio, as well as newspaper, particularly
online platforms.
In addition to consuming U.S. political news, nearly all of the interviewees said that they
were somewhat still involved with political news at “home” or their native countries. Drew
suggested that most Black ethnics immigrants tend to keep abreast of news of their home country
when they move to the U.S:
"At a minimum [they] stay aware. For example, my late aunt's husband, he was from Guyana
and he lived in Brooklyn and he knew what was going on in Guyana [from] radio, news,
friends,” he said. “You can be up here and unless you just made a conscious decision to put
yourself off from it, you want to stay aware of what's happening, you might not be able to
articulate in great depth of what's going on with certain politicians, but you have a sense of
what's going on back home" (Drew, personal communication, March 18, 2014).
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
41
Another interesting note was that many of the interviewed Black ethnics – particularly
Drew, Yola, and Haile – kept up with news in their native country using social media and they
discussed U.S. news with family and friends in their countries of origin. Drew said that his friends
keep up with U.S. political news as much as anyone in the U.S.:
“I keep up because I'm on Facebook. About 25 percent of my friends from the Virgin Islands
are my Facebook posse,” Drew explained. “If something major is going on, everything from a
power outage to a vote or whatever, I usually know about it. I have a couple of friends who
work for the government, so I keep up that way" (Drew, personal communication, March 18,
2014).
While she does not keep up with Ethiopian news daily, Haile said she keeps up with the
Ethiopian community using Facebook (Haile, personal communication, March 20, 2014). Yola
(personal communication, March 22, 2014) frequently keeps abreast of news in Nigeria through
bloggers who comment on U.S. news because they have access to U.S. news media outlets such as
CNN, MSNBC, FOX, and various online newspapers.
BLACK ETHNICS’ RESPONSE TO CULTURALLY-SPECIFIC POLITICAL MESSAGES
Usually nearest to the end of the election cycles as well as when heavily divisive issues are
debated publically, political communicators and well-known political voices use racial appeals to
persuade African-Americans to think a certain way about a particular message that they are trying
to convey.
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
42
Figure 1 – Conservative group Raging Elephants’ billboard advertisement persuading
target audience that civil rights icon Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Republican
(Abrams, 2009).
One of the most prevalent examples is when Republican groups inject civil rights icons,
namely Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. into advertisements to try and persuade AfricanAmericans, who generally affiliate with the Democratic Party, to register or vote in favor of the
Republican Party to capitalize on the ongoing debate that Dr. King was a Republican (Abrams,
2009). Figure 1 demonstrates an example of this ad.
Another example occurred in 2013 when famed neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson, who had
recently began to publically share his conservative views, compared ‘Obamacare,’ the widely used
nickname for the first Black president’s landmark legislation, to “the worst thing that has happened
in this nation since slavery (Wetzstein, 2009).
“It is slavery because it aims to make all of us subservient to the government,” he said. “It
was never about health care. It was about control” (Wetzstein, 2009).
However, racial appeals are not only limited to Republicans or conservatives. During the
2012 election cycle, Democrats, namely U.S. Vice President Joseph “Joe” Biden used a reference to
slavery to attack his Republican opponents, Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney and Vice
Presidential Candidate Paul Ryan, on their position on a few economic issues:
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
43
“Look at what they value and look at their budget, and what they're proposing. Romney
wants to let the -- he said in the first 100 days, he's going to let the big banks once again
write their own rules. Unchain Wall Street. They're going to put y'all back in chains,” Biden
said (Jackson, 2012).
Other popular political and culturally specific historical figures, events, and terms are used
to appeal to African-Americans include references to Jim Crow laws, segregation, and President
Abraham Lincoln, just to name a few.
Since these terms are prevalent in African-American history and culture as well as
mainstream U.S. society, it was fitting to ask how Black ethnics, who are often lumped into the
African-American cultural identity, respond to these messages.
Referring to slavery and Jim Crow references, Bain said, “I listen, but that's about all I do. I
didn't grow up with it, so it really doesn't affect me like it would an African-American. The
issue doesn't necessarily affect me the way it would a Black-American" (Bain, personal
communication, March 16, 2014).
Dempah had a similar reaction to Bain, when she said:
“I'm Black, but I'm not from here. I totally understand what it was about but I don't get
emotional about it because my family didn't have to go through that, even my grandparents
and my great grandparents didn’t have to go through that. It may not touch me as deeply as
someone who is from here" ( Dempah, personal communication, March 18, 2014).
While Ndolo acknowledged the history of slavery in the U.S., she stated that she could not
relate to it either:
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
44
"I'm not so sure about slavery. I think for the most part, people agree that slavery was
abhorrent and it was something that it is a stain on American history. I think there's
arguments on both sides about that. I feel like if I was African-American, born and bred
here, with my ancestors having been slaves, then I might be more into knowing more about
slavery and be more aware of what is the commentary on slavery. I kind of feel like I'm still
an African, I'm still a Kenyan. I kind of feel like it doesn't affect me as much so I don't go out
my way to learn as much as I should" (Ndolo, personal communication, March 18, 2014).
For Ndolo and a couple of the other Black ethnics, the references to Dr. King were more
relatable and palatable.
Haile said that she did not mind the references to Dr. King and President Lincoln and that
when they are referenced she can definitely relate:
“It’s not foreign to me, I know about Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, and so it’s not
foreign to me. I’ve been here for 10 years….They’re making references to great men that
have done a great job in their time, so I think they’re recounting the basics and they’re
reminding everybody that these were great leaders in their own way. So if they’re using it in
quotes or their speeches or some of their leadership styles. We learn from the past and we
learn from other great people, they’re seen as your heroes and people you look up to and
most other people do as well. You will communicate with those people who do, so I
definitely have no problem with that” ( Haile, personal communication, March 20, 2014).
Yola also felt that she could relate to the references of the American icons, including
President John F. Kennedy (JFK), who was known by most as a president who was favorable to civil
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
45
rights. However, she also felt that she could not relate to some specifics in the U.S. such as slavery
and under the rule of Jim Crow laws:
“I feel like I can relate to Martin Luther King, I feel like I can relate to Abraham Lincoln, I can
relate to JFK quotes because some of their messages they talk about are universal. The ideas
are universal. Not necessarily specific things about the United States because I did not live
through the time…I think being an International has its privileges but it also has its
disparages because I don’t have the same history, I’m not aware. The universal messages I
can definitely relate, but some specifics, it might not fit into my reality” (Yola, personal
communication, March 22, 2014).
Drew said that when political messengers use references to slavery as they relate to
economic woes in the Black Community, they are fueling thoughts of being a victim and that people
should consider moving forward to becoming more economically independent.
"I'm not really into this whole where we can point everything toward slavery narrative, but
it makes a difference to pointing how you can be 12 years a slave and a 120 years a slave.
You know, we're still 120 years a slave. It's harsh but we still suffer from that victim
mentality” (Drew, personal communication, March 18, 2014).
Drew also predicted that in 20 years, the Dr. King appeals will not resonate with voters
because the descending generations will be further disconnected from his legacy as well as other
icons and unsung heroes of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s (Drew, personal
communication, March 18, 2014).
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
46
Grant also had an opinion about how when one political figure she recalled, 2012
Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney, expressed his thoughts about how to reduce gun
violence during the second presidential debate of the election cycle:
“We need moms and dads helping raise kids. Wherever possible, — the benefit of having two
parents in the home — and that's not always possible. A lot of great single moms, single dads.
But gosh, to tell our kids that before they have babies, they ought to think about getting
married to someone — that's a great idea because if there's a two-parent family, the prospect
of living in poverty goes down dramatically. The opportunities that the child will — will be
able to achieve increase dramatically. So we can make changes in the way our culture works
to help bring people away from violence and give them opportunity and bring them in the
American system” (Kohn, 2012).
As someone who was raised by a single-mother, Grant (personal communication, March 28,
2014) felt that Romney’s statement was implicitly referring to the U.S.’s African-American women.
“I thought he was digging himself into the biggest hole ever. He was uneducated about the
issue that he was really trying to speak about,” she said. “You can’t really be offended by someone
who can’t really talk about something they don’t know about.”
Grant (personal communication, March 28, 2014) also mentioned that whenever Romney
uttered the term African-American throughout his campaign, she felt that he was using it as a
politically correct way to offend the population.
“I feel like when he uses the term African-American, he really wanted to say Black or Negro.
I’m pretty sure that’s what he wanted to say. At least that’s my opinion,” Grant said.
Furthermore, nearly all of the interviewees were asked to recall any type of political
advertisement or message and describe it and explain what they would do to alter the ad or
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
47
message. Drew, who is heavily involved in U.S. politics, recalled the controversial and widely
debated 1988 “Willie Horton” political advertisement.
In an article titled, “The 20 Ads That Changed How We Think About Race In America,”
author Jim Edwards, described the ad as follows:
“President George H.W. Bush's infamous ‘Willie Horton’ ad (attacking Democratic
candidate Michael Dukakis) became the very definition of a negative election ad. It
relied on a scary tale about a black prison inmate — and defined the debate about
race and political attack ads for a generation. Tellingly, it made race a dangerous
issue for candidates to address in ads” (Edwards, 2013).
Although he described the ad and shared how he would change the ad, when asked if a
similar “Willie Horton” ad would be effective in his native St. Thomas, Drew had an interesting
answer and explanation:
"If Willie Horton was from the Virgin Islands, a criminal, and he was let loose and he
committed a crime again, that alone would be enough to get the Governor out of office. So in
the Virgin Islands, if that narrative is accurate, you'd be a fool not to use him…That's how
we campaign down there. We don't throw soft punches...If it’s the Virgin Islands, oh yeah.
Ten percent of the island is white, but you're not going to worry about that because he looks
like the majority of the population, then it’s less of a race thing…" (Drew, personal
communication, March 18, 2014).
Drew also explained about the general political environment evident Caribbean nations as
well as citizens’ engagement level and response:
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
48
"In the Caribbean, politics is in your bones, you can't get away from it,” he said. “It's a blood
sport in the Caribbean. American politics is very tame compared to the Caribbean politics.
Very Tame. You're political in terms of the news. [In St. Thomas], [i]t was in your face every
day. That's how it is in the West Indies. I don't think we take it for granted. We just
acknowledge it. But for an outsider coming in, you will feel it. We are very political people”
(DrewDrew, personal communication, March 18, 2014).
In another context, Bain (personal communication, March 16, 2014) also compared the
political landscape and advertisements between the U.S and the Bahamas. "What stuck out to me is
people in politics bashing each other. I look at it as a campaign ploy. They absolutely do the same in
the Bahamas,” Bain said. "There's no difference. Politicians lie in the United States, politicians lie in
the Bahamas. They all do the same thing."
Some of the interviewed Black ethnics also shared how they would react if people who
shared a similar cultural identity to them were used to deliver messages to the Black ethnic
audience in an effort to appeal to them.
Dempah, Yola, and Addy thought that having someone, particularly someone with an
African voice or West African accent, would be an interesting sight to see and an unusual, yet
welcoming voice to hear.
Dempah (personal communication, March 18, 2014) said that an African voice in an
American ad would be interesting to her because it is unusual, but it would definitely pique her
interest. She added that she would definitely want to know what the issue was about, especially if
the African voice that is delivering message addressed a U.S. societal issue that affected what she
called non-American Black people.
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
49
Addy had a similar reaction:
“I think I would find it strange if I had someone with a West African accent , one because
you’re like this is geared towards the broader American public or the U.S. viewing audience
…having people who are may be seen as foreign or seen as immigrants, I don’t think that
they would be received as well. I don’t think that would be something I’d see as often but it
would definitely grab my attention for being unusual” (D. Addy, personal communication,
March 19, 2014).
While both Bain and Haile said that neither of them would have any type of reaction if
someone with a West Indian or an Ethiopian accent were delivering the message. Haile (personal
communication, March 20, 2014) expounded on her point and added that she would feel a sense of
pride.
“I wouldn’t feel anything. There are so many Ethiopians who are born and raised here there
entitled to participate in the political system. They might identify themselves as Americans and so
this is their country. I wouldn’t feel anyway. I’ll actually be proud of them,” Haile said (Haile,
personal communication, March 20, 2014).
While the proposal for someone with a West African accent were used to communicate a
political message would be interesting initially, Yola admitted that she would be suspicious of the
message’s intent:
“It would be interesting for me. I would definitely pause and listen because I would be like
What?! It’s like when I watch NBC-4 and I see someone in an interview, I can totally tell he’s
a Nigerian. West Africans are everywhere they tend to travel around a lot, but a part of me
would wonder if it that was done intentionally and I have trouble with that. My question
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
50
would be what was the person’s motive…If it was done in poor taste, I would question the
credibility” (Yola, personal communication, March 22, 2014).
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
51
PART III
CONCLUSION
Exploring how Black ethnics in the U.S., specifically Black Africans and Caribbeans, perceive
and respond to political messages intended for African-Americans was presented through a
presentation of the perspectives and reactions of 14 political communication and outreach experts
and Black ethnics in the U.S. After presenting these findings, one conclusive notion is that more
qualitative and quantitative in-depth research should be conducted about Black ethnics’ who
arecurrent and future U.S. citizens in order to enhance political communicators’ microtargeting
efforts as well as increase the awareness, usage, and inclusion of Black ethnics’ political nuances.
Based on the findings documented in Part II, the following information was gleaned:

Nearly all of the experts and Black ethnics acknowledged the diversity of Black
America. Many of the interviewed Black ethnics had issues with umbrella terms,
such as Black and African-American, which are typically used to identify people
of the African Diaspora currently living in the U.S.

Among the interviewed Black ethnics, there is a diversity of political party
affiliations (or lack thereof), voting habits, and perceptions and responses to
political messages that appeal to race and African-American culturally specific
events and terms.

The interviewed political outreach experts and practitioners would appreciate
more information on Black ethnics to understand their political nuances at a
deeper level and incorporate them into their current and future political
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
52
microtargeting efforts. Particularly as more Black ethnics are projected to
increase in population in the U.S. and obtain citizenship.
Because Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages is an introductory
topic analysis on how Black ethnics in the U.S. perceive and respond to political messages intended
for African-Americans, a few recommendations were suggested to increase the academic discussion
of Black ethnics and political communication microtargeting efforts in the U.S.
Future researchers should consider collecting research, particularly quantitative data, on
what are some cultural identification terms that resonate with Black ethnics in the U.S. because the
experts and the interviewed Black ethnics had diverse views on this issue. Future researchers
should also investigate whether there are any universal racial themes that resonate with Black
ethnics and their African-American counterparts, so that communicators have a better
understanding of the political perspectives of Black ethnics residing in the U.S., so that they
canbetter communicate to them. Additionally, researchers should study whether there is a pattern
of transference of political interest, involvement, and participation when Black ethnics from Africa
and the Caribbean immigrate to the U.S. Finally, recalling the interviewed Black ethnics who
mentioned that they kept abreast of news occurring in their native countries, researchers should
consider studying if it is possible to influence social media content producers who live outside of
the U.S. and report or discuss U.S. politics could then influence the political perceptions of Black
ethnics in the U.S.
Black Ethnics’ Perception and Reception of U.S. Political Messages
53
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