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During theReconstruction era, many black voters supported the Republican Party.[3]Booker T. Washington had a more conservative approach to politics in the United States whileW. E. B. DuBois called for more radical change.[4] Some African Americans supported DemocratWoodrow Wilson's first presidential campaign and were betrayed by his policies once in office.[5] UnderFranklin D. Roosevelt's administration, during his first two terms, civil rights legislation was not passed, however,New Deal programs led to the black vote becoming more split.[6] In 1960, theKennedy-Johnson campaign promotedcivil rights as a central issue and during their administration, they passedanti-discrimination legislation, gaining the black vote. Since then, the Democratic Party has held a majority of the black votes in America,[7] althoughPew Research Center polling has found that the percentage of African-Americans who identify as Democratic has declined in recent years, from 75% duringBarack Obama's presidency to 67% in 2020. A 2017 sample size of 10,245 voters concluded that just 8% of African-Americans identify as Republican.[8]
Alan Keyes became the first African-American candidate to run in the Republican presidential primaries in1996, but he did not win any state's primary or caucus. Keyes ran for president again in2000[15] and in2008.
NeurosurgeonBen Carsonran for the Republican nomination in the2016 election. He polled well for a time in late 2015, but withdrew after the firstSuper Tuesday.[17] Carson received 857,039 votes during the Republican primaries; this total represented 2.75% of the votes cast. He was supported by seven delegates at the Republican National Convention.[18]
ANational Election Pool poll showed that support forCalifornia Proposition 8 (2008) (a state constitutional amendment defining marriage as an opposite-sex union) was strong amongAfrican-American voters; 70% of those interviewed in the exit poll—a higher percentage than any other racial group—stated that they voted in favor of Proposition 8.[23] Polls by both theAssociated Press andCNN mirrored this data, reporting support among Black voters to be at 70%[24] and 75%,[25] respectively. African-American support was considered crucial to the Proposition's passage because African Americans made up an unusually large percentage of voters in 2008; the presence of African-American presidential candidateBarack Obama on the ballot was believed to have increased African-American voter turnout.[26]
FromReconstruction up until theNew Deal, the black population tended to vote Republican.[27] During that period, the Republican Party—particularly in theSouthern United States—was seen as more racially progressive than the Democratic Party, primarily because of the role of the Southern wing of the Democratic Party as the party ofracial segregation and the Republican Party's roots in theabolitionist movement (seeDixiecrats).[citation needed]
Blacks started to shift in significant numbers to the Democrats with the election ofFranklin D. Roosevelt[28] and continued with the election ofJohn F. Kennedy. AmongTruman Administration officials, the publication ofHenry Lee Moon'sBalance of Power spurred Democratic partisan support for African-American constituencies.[29] This shift was also influenced byHerbert Hoover's practice of firing loyal African-Americans from positions within the Republican Party, in order to increase his appeal to Southern white voters.[30] This can be considered an early example of a set of Republican Party methods that were later termed theSouthern Strategy.[31][better source needed]
Lisa Holder White – Justice of theIllinois Supreme Court (since 2022), Judge of the Illinois Fourth District Appellate Court (2013-2022), Trial Judge Illinois Sixth Judicial Circuit Court (2001-2013)
Anthony Watson (skeleton racer) – is an American-born skeleton racer who competed on behalf of Jamaica in the 2018 Winter Olympics, becoming the first athlete to represent the Caribbean nation in the winter sport.
Kanye West – Rapper and record producer. EndorsedDonald Trump subsequently to the 2016 presidential election. Met President Trump in the Oval Office on 11 October 2018. Independent candidate for President of the United States in2020 and2024.
Karl Malone – Olympic Gold medallist and basketball player[63]
George Washington Carver[citation needed] – Agricultural scientist and inventor who promoted alternative crops to cotton and methods to prevent soil depletion
Glenn Loury – Academic, economist, and podcast host
Eunice Carter – Attorney. First African-American assistant district attorney in New York state. She was noted for her role in the prosecution of gangsterCharles "Lucky" Luciano.
Mary Church Terrell – One of the first African-American women to receive a college degree, she was a journalist and educator. She was an active Republican, campaigning forWarren G. Harding in 1920.
Ezola Foster – Teacher, writer, political activist, and unsuccessful candidate for public office on the Republican and Reform Party tickets
Roscoe Simmons – Orator, journalist, political activist, he was part of the "Old Guard" of Black Republicans in Tennessee. He attended three Republican National Conventions and seconded the nomination ofHerbert Hoover in 1932.
Nelson W. Winbush – is an educator, who is notable as one of a handful of African-American members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV).
Mattie Clyburn Rice – was an African-American member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
Georgia Benton – African-American member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy
Voddie Baucham – was an American pastor, author, and educator. He served as Dean of Theology at African Christian University in Lusaka, Zambia.
Lemuel Haynes – was an American clergyman. A veteran of theAmerican Revolution, Haynes was the first black man in the United States to be ordained as a minister.
^Diamond, Sara (1996).Facing the Wrath: Confronting the Right in Dangerous Times. Common Courage Press. p. 96.ISBN978-1-56751-078-2.Christian Right activists allied with black conservatives to make their causes appear more mainstream across racial and class lines. In this vein, the Family Research Council (the lobbying affiliate of Focus on the Family) recently named as vice-president Kay Cole James, a black anti-abortion activist.
^Tate, Katherine (1994).From Protests to Politics: The New Black Voters in American Elections. New York: Russell Sage Foundation. pp. 1–238.ISBN9780674325401.
^Alexander-Floyd, Nikol-G (2021).Re-Imagining Black Women: A Critique of Post-Feminist and Post-Racial Melodrama in Culture and Politics. NYU Press. pp. 27–58.ISBN9781479820139.
^For an overview of these themes, see Stan Faryna, Brad Stetson, and Joseph G. Conti, Eds.,Black and Right: The Bold New Voice of Black Conservatives in America, (Westport, CT: Praeger, 1997)
^Brian Greenberg; Linda S. Watts; Richard A. Greenwald; Gordon Reavley; Alice L. George; Scott Beekman; Cecelia Bucki; Mark Ciabattari; John C. Stoner; Troy D. Paino; Laurie Mercier; Andrew Hunt; Peter C. Holloran; Nancy Cohen (2008).Social History of the United States [10 volumes]. ABC-CLIO. p. 360.ISBN978-1-59884-128-2.
^Gilmore, Glenda Elizabeth (2016).These United States: A Nation in the Making, 1890-Present (First ed.). New York: W.W. Norton & Co. p. 24.ISBN9780393283075.
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