Profs and Pints Online presents: “Black Votes as Swing Votes,” an assumption-shattering look at the political behavior of young African Americans, with David Barker, professor of government and director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University.

In American politics, “swing voters” generally are thought of as white, working-class voters in the Midwest and Rust Belt. By contrast, African Americans are treated as a monolithic constituency that the Democratic Party has “captured” and can count on for its support.

Come join David Barker, an expert on American politics, for a talk that will shatter such assumptions.

Professor Barker will discuss research on Black voters that suggests a substantial share actually play a decisive role in “swinging” elections—not by voting Republican, but in choosing whether to vote for the Democratic candidate or not vote at all. Hillary Clinton would have won in 2016 if nearly as large a share had cast ballots in favor of her as voted for Barack Obama four years before.

Much of Barker’s talk will focus on what he learned as a co-author of the Black Swing Voter Study, which paired representative surveys with focus groups of African Americans from battleground states. The focus groups especially sought to elicit the views of young African Americans in the 18-to-29 age range, based on the survey’s findings that they assign much less importance to voting than their parents or grandparents.

Professor Barker will look at young African Americans’ views of, and levels of trust in, the Democratic and Republican parties, their faith in voting and voting plans, their political ideologies, and their level of faith in our political system. His talk will identify important trends, debunk common myths, and shed light on this constituency’s underappreciated importance in American politics.

Profs & Pints Online: Black Votes as Swing Votes