The impact of the Jesse Jackson campaigns on local black political mobilization in New York City, Atlanta, and Oakland.
Item
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Title
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The impact of the Jesse Jackson campaigns on local black political mobilization in New York City, Atlanta, and Oakland.
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Identifier
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AAI9029983
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identifier
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9029983
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Creator
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Thompson, James Phillip, III.
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Contributor
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Adviser: John Mollenkopf
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Date
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1990
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Political Science, General | History, Black | Sociology, Ethnic and Racial Studies
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Abstract
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This dissertation analyzes the impact of the 1984 and 1988 Jesse Jackson presidential campaigns on local black political development in New York City, Atlanta, and Oakland. The dissertation asks if these campaigns achieved the goals Jackson's rhetoric suggested he sought, namely (a) increased voter registration, (b) increased black turnout, and (c) new black candidates running in local races. The study finds that the 1984 Jackson campaign did not generally increase voter registration, but only provided some added momentum for it where local activists already had it under way. This was even more true in 1988, when the Jackson campaign was more mainstream and less protest-oriented. The study finds that the Jackson candidacies increased voter turnouts in black areas of New York City, but has a much weaker effect in Atlanta and Oakland. This is attributed to the fact that the latter cities have achieved black predominance in electoral politics, and the black mayors in those cities have become more conservative, and did not favor Jackson. In New York, Jackson's campaign served as a lightning rod for long-delayed city-wide black political mobilization. Finally, the study finds that the Jackson candidacies, with a few minor exceptions, did not generate new local black candidacies. Part of the reason lies in the separation of local and national elections, and the decentralization of American political parties. The other part lies in Jackson's drift away from a protest-oriented grassroots campaign, and in mistakes committed during the 1984 campaign. The study notes that in the two cities where racial transitions took place over a decade ago in mayoral politics, problems in poor black neighborhoods have gotten worse rather than better. Oakland's Mayor Lionel Wilson and Atlanta's Mayor Andrew Young have both forged alliances with white downtown business elites, but not poor neighborhoods and community organizations. Thus, class tensions within the black community are beginning to challenge black political leadership, and these tensions affected the local Jackson campaigns.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
