Fight the Power? How Black Adults’ Racial Capital Associates With Their Political Activities

Abstract

Systemic racism explains historical and contemporary anti-black exclusion, violence, and exploitation in the United States. Yet, Black people routinely resist systemic racism’s effects. This study asks whether racial capital (i.e., Blacks’ belief in the significance of systemic racism) associates positively with political activities. It also attempts to replicate previous findings showing educational attainment directly predicts political activities. Finally, it asks whether educational attainment moderates the association between racial capital and political activities. Analyses of nationally representative data from the Outlook on Life Surveys, 2012, indicate racial capital associates positively with political activities. Further, educational attainment directly predicts political activities and seemingly attenuates racial capital’s positive association with political activities. However, racial capital associates positively with increased political activities among Black people with an associate degree or more.