Electing black politicians under racial trust can yield hollow symbolism instead of advocacy

Evidence

If the concerns of black communities were to get any traction, it would have to be by way of a form of what Harris calls “wink and nod” politics. Black voters would elect black politicians with the understanding that the politicians are constrained by white racism in terms of what they can address explicitly. But black voters are to trust them implicitly—because they are black, we assume that they will act on behalf of the interests of black people. The danger of this trust is obvious. Black voters can easily find themselves saddled with politicians who symbolically represent them, but who have no intention, out of self-interest, of advocating on their behalf in any specific way. In place of any serious attempt to address racial inequality, we get something hollow, little more than symbols and tidy speeches. — Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Democracy in Black, 462

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines ‘wink and nod’ politics, the implicit-trust arrangement Glaude argues defines black electoral representation.