{"id":72196,"date":"2018-01-05T14:30:01","date_gmt":"2018-01-05T19:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/?p=72196"},"modified":"2018-01-05T14:30:01","modified_gmt":"2018-01-05T19:30:01","slug":"in-alabamas-special-election-what-about-the-men","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/2018\/01\/05\/in-alabamas-special-election-what-about-the-men\/","title":{"rendered":"In Alabama\u2019s Special Election, What about the Men?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">If you want to know who to thank for Doug Jones winning in Alabama &#8211; you can thank Black Women. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/AlabamaSenateElection?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#AlabamaSenateElection<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/8h5kfEbyJt\">pic.twitter.com\/8h5kfEbyJt<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 UltraViolet (@UltraViolet) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/UltraViolet\/status\/940786176906051584?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 13, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Over the last few weeks, commentary about alleged sexual predator Roy Moore\u2019s failure to secure a seat in the U.S. Senate has flooded our news and social media feeds, shining a spotlight on the critical role of Black women in the election. About<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/doug-jones-roy-moore-alabama-senate-race-special-election-results-demographics-746366\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">98%<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of Black women, comprising 17% of total voters, cast their ballots for Moore\u2019s opponent Doug Jones, ensuring Jones\u2019s<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/UltraViolet\/status\/940786176906051584\/photo\/1?ref_src=twsrc%25255Etfw&amp;ref_url=https%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.bustle.com%25252Fp%25252Fwhite-women-voted-for-roy-moore-in-alabama-we-need-to-talk-about-what-that-means-7577575\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">victory<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. At the same time, commentators questioned the role of White women in supporting Moore. Sources estimate that<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/doug-jones-roy-moore-alabama-senate-race-special-election-results-demographics-746366\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">63%<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of White women voted for Moore, including the majority of college-educated White women. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vogue.com\/article\/doug-jones-won-alabama-white-women-lost\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vogue<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> proclaimed, \u201cDoug Jones Won, but White Women Lost.\u201d<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.usnews.com\/opinion\/civil-wars\/articles\/2017-12-14\/roy-moore-donald-trump-and-white-women-voting-for-misogyny\"> <i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">U.S. News and World Reports<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> asked, \u201cWhy do so many White women vote for misogynists?\u201d Feminist blog<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/theslot.jezebel.com\/white-women-keep-fucking-us-over-1821250590\"> <i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jezebel<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> announced succinctly: \u201cWhite women keep fucking us over.\u201d Fair enough. But we have to ask, \u201cWhat about Black and White men?\u201d The fact that<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.census.gov\/data\/tables\/time-series\/demo\/voting-and-registration\/electorate-profiles-2016.html\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">48%<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of Alabama\u2019s voting population is <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">absent<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> from these conversations is not accidental. It\u2019s part of an incomplete narrative that focuses solely on the impact of women voters and continues the false narrative that fixing inequality is solely their burden.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let\u2019s focus first on Black men. Exit poll data indicate that<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/doug-jones-roy-moore-alabama-senate-race-special-election-results-demographics-746366\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">93%<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of Black men voted for Jones, and they accounted for 11% of the total vote. Bluntly put, Jones could not have secured his razor-thin victory without their votes. Yet, media commentary about their specific role in the election is typically obscured. Several articles note the general turnout of Black voters without explicitly highlighting the contribution of Black men. Other articles focus on the role of Black women exclusively. In a <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Newsweek<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> article proclaiming Black women \u201c<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/thank-black-women-vote-office-political-activists-748619\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Saved America<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">,\u201d Black men receive not a single mention. In addition to erasing a key contribution, this incomplete account of Jones\u2019s victory masks concerns about<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/politics\/archive\/2017\/02\/how-voter-id-laws-discriminate-study\/517218\/\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">minority voter suppression<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and the Democratic party taking<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2017\/dec\/21\/alabama-new-generation-black-politicians-doug-jones-win\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Black votes for granted.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">White men comprised 35% of total voters in this election, and 72% of them voted for Moore. But detailed commentary on their overwhelming support for Moore &#8211; a man who said that<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/campaign\/351966-gop-senate-hopeful-roy-moores-five-most-controversial-remarks\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Muslims<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> shouldn\u2019t serve in Congress, that America was\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/campaign\/351966-gop-senate-hopeful-roy-moores-five-most-controversial-remarks\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cgreat\u201d<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> during the time of slavery, and was accused of harassing and\/or assaulting at least\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/women-accused-roy-moore-sexual-misconduct-list-2017-11\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">nine women<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in their teens while in his thirties &#8211; is frankly rare. The scant mentions in popular media may best be summed up as: \u201cWe expect nothing more from White men.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As social scientists, we know that expectations matter. A large body of work indicates that negative stereotypes of Black boys and men are linked to deleterious outcomes in <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/0042085903038004005\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">education<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">,<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/nyupress.org\/books\/9780814776384\/\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">crime<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.socscimed.2008.03.019\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">health<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Within our academic communities we sagely nod our heads and agree we should change our expectations of Black boys and men to ensure better outcomes. But this logic of high expectations is rarely applied to White men. The work of<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.themachoparadox.com\/\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jackson Katz<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is an important exception. He, and a handful of others have, for years, pointed out that gender-blind conversations about violence perpetrated <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">by men, primarily against women <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2013 in families, in romantic relationships, and on college campuses &#8211; serve only to perpetuate this violence by making its prevention a <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">woman\u2019s<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> problem. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The parallels to politics in this case are too great to ignore. It\u2019s not enough for the media to note that voting trends for the Alabama senate election were inherently racist and sexist. Pointing out that Black women were critically important in determining election outcomes, and that most White women continued to engage in the \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/2010\/12\/21\/why-is-kim-kardashian-famous\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">patriarchal bargain<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d by voting for Moore is a good start, but not sufficient. Accurate coverage would offer thorough examinations of the responsibility of <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">all<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> key players \u2013 in this case the positive contributions of Black men, and the negative contributions of White men. Otherwise, coverage risks downplaying White men\u2019s role in supporting public officials who are openly or covertly racist or sexist. This perpetuates a social structure that privileges White men above all others and then consistently fails to hold them responsible for their actions. We can, and must, do better.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><em><a href=\"https:\/\/soc.as.uky.edu\/users\/mmo272\">Mairead Eastin Moloney<\/a> is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Kentucky.\u00a0<\/em><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you want to know who to thank for Doug Jones winning in Alabama &#8211; you can thank Black Women. #AlabamaSenateElection pic.twitter.com\/8h5kfEbyJt \u2014 UltraViolet (@UltraViolet) December 13, 2017 Over the last few weeks, commentary about alleged sexual predator Roy Moore\u2019s failure to secure a seat in the U.S. Senate has flooded our news and social [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1851,"featured_media":72200,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[55,2094,85],"class_list":["post-72196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-gender","tag-gender-politics","tag-politics"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/files\/2018\/01\/DQ5X5Z0UIAABya-.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1851"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72196"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72196\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72198,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72196\/revisions\/72198"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}