Social and Political Participation of Blacks

Recent research has suggested that although blacks often participate less actively than whites in voluntary associations and voting, when socioeconomic status is controlled this relationship is reversed, with blacks becoming more active than whites. The present study expands this line of research into a wide variety of social and political activities, and also adds age as a second control variable. The general tendency for blacks to be more active than whites under these controlled conditions is found to occur in every type of activity investigated. Comparison of data collected in 1957 and 1968 indicates that the tendency has become more pronounced in recent years. Myrdal's compensation interpretation of this trend, which has been accepted by all previous writers on this topic, is challenged as inadequate, since it does not explain black participation in such realms as mass media exposure, activities, partisan political activities, and contacts with the government. An alternative community thesis is proposed, and is partially substantiated by the finding that blacks who identify as members of an ethnic minority tend to be more active than nonidentifiers.