Shayla C. Nunnally
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socially and politically is based upon race-specific attitudes about whom to trust: African
Americans discern trust based on race, or racial trust.
Elsewhere, I have explored how race affects African Americans’ perceptions of
trust in others (Nunnally 2001; 2002a; 2002b). This paper, however, extends this
argument by suggesting that socialization experiences about race affect African
Americans’ political socialization. Hence, African Americans who learn about the
significance of race in America and in American politics are those who are less trusting
of specific racial group members, including those in political contexts.
Given the paucity of research on the linkage between racial socialization and
racial trust and political socialization and political trust, I suggest that we reconsider a
study of political socialization among African Americans. I suggest that African
Americans are socialized about the historical and continual effect of race on their lives
and are socialized about the extent to which race affects their black group-based political
interests. These racial socialization experiences serve as antecedents for African
Americans’ political behavior, and particularly, their political trust. This implies that
there is a relationship between racial socialization and learning about racial trust and that
this relationship is manifested via political learning about whom to trust in politics.
Racial socialization takes the form of learning about what political parties stand
for with respect to black group interests; how well the major parties work on black
political issues; and which party to vote for with respect to black group concerns.
Obviously, each of these experiences suggests there is an interconnection of race with
political preferences. I expect this same relationship to be evident in the statistical
relationship between racial trust and political trust.
While the importance of African Americans’ historical experiences as a group is
given much consideration in our political research on blacks’ political preferences and
political behavior, our political research on how African Americans are socialized about
race (with respect to their political behavior) has been limited. Furthermore, much of the
research that has been done is confined to blacks’ political socialization in the post-civil
rights era (Abramson 1977). Therefore, this paper argues that the presence of a
relationship between racial and political trusts is enough to warrant further studies on
how race is learned in racial socialization and what this entails for African Americans’
political socialization.
Convention