The following analysis addresses one of the most important developments affecting the economic, social, and political life of African Americans in the new century. Generational cleavages are altering the bedrock of both national life and black life in the United States. These changes are governed by time and history, and they reflect the nation's economic, political, and social change as well as the differences in personal experiences that comprise and result from those changes.

It should be understood at the outset that this study is but the beginning of an effort by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies to understand and anticipate the consequences of these changes for the future of African Americans. These differences only began to surface in Joint Center national opinion polls in the early 1990s. Since then, there has been an accumulation of evidence allowing for not only the documentation, but the investigation, of these shifting policy views as a function of generational identity.

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Date Published: 2001

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This report by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies presents findings from the second year of an initiative to assess what works to enable low-income communities of color to build assets. It highlights predisposing factors and promising practices in 10 states that received low rankings on asset building for low-income people in the 2007-2008 Assets & Opportunity Scorecard. The featured states are: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, South Dakota, and Texas. This report not only examines asset building in these 10 states-most with sizable communities of color-but also compares these findings with those for states with high rankings on asset building for low-income people (Delaware, Hawai'i, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin). The states with high rankings on asset building-and small communities of color in general-are analyzed separately in the first year project report entitled Asset Building in Low-Income Communities of Color, Part 1: Predisposing Factors and Promising Practices in States Effective at Building Assets for Low-Income Residents (Executive Summary).

Also, see the Fact Sheet "Confronting and Closing the Wealth Gap".

This report by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies presents findings from the first year of an initiative to assess what works to enable low-income communities of color build assets. The executive summary highlights predisposing factors and promising practices in ten states, highly rated in the 2007-2008 Assets & Opportunity Scorecard for asset building among low-income people. The featured states include: Delaware, Hawai'i, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin. A companion report Asset Building in Low-Income Communities of Color, Part 2: State Comparisons (Executive Summary) analyzes similar factors and practices in another set of states with large percentages of people of color (Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, South Dakota, and Texas).

Also, see the Fact Sheet "Confronting and Closing the Wealth Gap".

This guide discusses the range of participation by African Americans in the Democratic Party, the geographic and partisan dimensions of the black vote in recent years, and black voters' attitudes toward many issues that may be significant in the fall campaign. Detailed statistical tables and a discussion of the 2008 Democratic National Convention's black delegates and alternates make this guide a must-have resource for reporters, convention participants and scholars alike.

Click these links to access the insert Comparing the Candidates: Improving the Health of a Diverse America and the Roster of Black Democratic Convention Delegates.

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Publication date: August 2008

This guide discusses the range of participation by African Americans in the Republican Party, the geographic and partisan dimensions of the black vote in recent years, and black voters' attitudes toward many issues that may be significant in the fall campaign. Detailed statistical tables and a discussion of the 2008 Republican National Convention's black delegates and alternates make this guide a must-have resource for reporters, convention participants and scholars alike.

Click these links to access the insert Comparing the Candidates: Improving the Health of a Diverse America and the Roster of Black Republican Convention Delegates.

Available in PDF Format Only.

To download this publication, click the file icon below.

Publication date: August 2008

The following is a brief review of some of the available evidence of what transpired on November 7, 2006, when the Democrats gained control of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. The black vote played a critical role in the outcome of a number of closely contested elections, especially for the U.S. Senate. In particular, this review focuses on the behavior and significance of African American voters in the 2006 midterm elections and on the changing number and profile of black candidates for federal and statewide offices, as well as their performance at the polls.

With the presidential primary season now in full swing, the significance of the African American vote, particularly in choosing the Democratic nominee, has become increasingly clear. While not particularly significant in the two states that traditionally go first in the process, Iowa and New Hampshire, the black vote will be critical in the primaries in Michigan (Jan. 15), South Carolina (Jan. 26), and Florida (Jan. 29). And on Feb. 5, when voters in states from New York to California cast their ballots, African American voters could determine the victors in several of the races.

Black enlistments in the military have declined to their lowest level in more than three decades. The downturn is a major problem for the Pentagon, which is trying to increase the size of the Army and Marine Corps. Absent a recession, which would reduce civilian employment opportunities for enlistment-age youth, the only way to enlarge the all-volunteer force (AVF) is to increase the rewards of service – that is, to raise pay, benefits and bonuses. Such a course would increase the Pentagon’s budget, which has nearly tripled during the past seven years to more than $600 billion annually.

The urgent search for solutions to a national crisis.

Opportunities for African Americans have multiplied even as polarization lingers.