Religion, Group Identification, and Politics among American Blacks

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Abstract
Some have argued that religion fosters a sense of group identification and stimulates political participation among black Americans. Others have suggested that religion in the black community, with its focus on other-worldly concerns, serves to blunt the impact of socioeconomic deprivation by increasing levels of satisfaction with the status quo. We posit a model in which religion influences black identification, satisfaction with the status quo, and orientation toward collective action, and these attitudes combine with religious and demographic variables to predict political participation. We report that religion is a significant source of black identification, but has little impact on orientations toward collective action. We also report that public religiosity increases black political participation. Religion does serve to increase satisfaction with the status quo, especially among older blacks, but even among this group, religious involvement leads to greater political participation. We conclude that black religion is an important source of black identity and a stimulus to political involvement.

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