Thread by @EfrenPoliPsy

I don't have many strong and informed opinions, but when it comes to PoC politics, that's one exception because I study them. Lots of ill takes here on PoC & the election. Rather than criticize, let me provide some evidence-based input on the election and the preceding months🧵

Is the category, PoC, and solidarity between them dead? Quite the opposite. PoC identity is real, strong, and stable among Black, Asian, Latino, Multiracial, and MENA folks. But like all identities, it competes for space with other group attachments
press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book…

Dems failed to unite PoC this cycle. The messaging was anemic on this front because Dems largely wanted to avoid campaigning on race. If you want PoC to mobilize, you have to remind them/inform them of what they might have in common (e.g., shared forms of discrimination).

Such messaging must be consistent & deal w/ alternatives. Dems didn't do that, PoC solidarity failed to materialize. Solidarity is about behavioral coordination between folks--it's costly and it doesn't automatically happen. But the reservoir is there.
cambridge.org/core/journals/…

Are some PoC anti-Black? Yup, absolutely. But they don't walk around being that way all the time. All people--PoC included--learn the raw material to be prejudiced. And they mostly learn it here in the U.S. (i.e., racial hierarchy).

Anti-Blackness emerges in very specific conditions--eg, when non-Black PoC feel they're losing their tenuous status as new Americans. It becomes a "pissing contest" about who is more American instead of "when one group is marginalized, we're all screwed"
cambridge.org/core/journals/…

Finally, it should be less surprising that some Latinos have been trending toward Republicans (even though the center of gravity is still pro-Dem. See cambridge.org/core/journals/…

What I think we're seeing is polarization catching up to PoC. We get two parties and two choices and all of the internal heterogeneity of various PoC must be channeled and expressed through these 2 (!) parties.

Both parties currently "own" different identities. Eg, Dems are the party of PoC while Republicans are the party of "real" Americans. Many PoC have clear identity priorities. Among Asian and Latino individuals, about 27% of them value their American ID over their racial ID.

Part of what is happening with party ID among these groups is that they are sorting into the "correct" party that they see reflecting how they view themselves. I think we need to appreciate this--and fast--to remain relevant as political scientists.


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