January 24, 2024 | Noon to 1:00 PM EST
Robert A. Brown (Spelman College)
In this talk, Brown examines the influence that Black urban representation has had upon the governance and decision-making of American cities — one of the central and long-standing areas of research within African American and urban politics. It is well known that the growth in the number of Black mayors and city council members has been a major development of American Politics over the past fifty years. Yet, Blacks’ greater influence in urban political representation raises some fundamental questions. Have Black mayors governed their cities in ways different from white mayors? How did Black mayors govern over the past fifty years as many cities experienced significant economic and demographic change — change that often was quite detrimental to the viability of many cities? Specifically, did Black mayors and city council members increase cities’ social policy spending and areas of spending for vulnerable citizens?
Using data collected by the Census Bureau and the Joint Center for Political Studies, Brown’s dataset of the social, economic, and political characteristics and the fiscal revenues and expenditures of all American cities with at least 50,000 residents (approximately 380 cities) from 1972 to 1990. A basic expectation of my work is that Black officials increased spending in such social policy areas as housing and community development and public welfare to alleviate the vulnerable conditions of many Black urban communities.