Respectability politics

Respectability politics, or the politics of respectability, is a political strategy wherein members of a marginalized community will consciously abandon or punish controversial aspects of their cultural-political identity as a method of assimilating, achieving social mobility, and gaining the respect of the majority culture.
The term "politics of respectability" was first coined by historian Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham in 1993. According to her, respectability "emphasize reform of individual behavior and attitudes both as a goal in itself and as a strategy for the reform of the entire structural system of American race relations."
Respectability politics is also the process in which privileged members of marginalized groups settle within the social norms of the dominant groups, to advance their group's position. There are fields of race and ethnic studies, social movements, and critical theory that may be un-integrated. The purpose of the modernized information respectability politics holds is that it focuses on applying African American studies specifically for black/African women.
A precursor to respectability politics were organizations such as the Association of German National Jews or The German Vanguard, during the Weimar Republic and the early years of Nazi Germany. These groups sought recognition or assimilation through their outspoken alignment with the ideology and values of the regime, while failing to realize that Nazi antisemitism was not merely a rhetorical tool or a manageable risk.

Differences in respectability politics and respectability narratives

Respectability narratives depict a marginalized group sharing similar traits, values, and morals to the dominant culture. When it comes to respectability narratives, they are an accumulation of different individual ideas about a group or identity politics. This usually aligns with the dominant group's definition of "respectability." Respectability politics is also a school of thought, using narratives that demonstrate respectability to enact social, political, and legal change. This is prominent throughout U.S. history. Certain political figures and activists have pointed out that the similar traits between the dominant and marginalized groups would provide rationale for marginalized groups seeking out equal rights and opportunities.

Concept

When marginalized figures promote respectability politics, they may be attempting to gain social credibility by regulating the "undesirable" beliefs and behaviors of the other members in their social group. Proponents of respectability politics might attempt to portray their personal social values as being continuous and compatible with the dominant group's values. These supporters may prefer not to challenge the mainstream for its failure to accept the marginalized group into the mainstream and that diversity also exists within the group.
According to Performing a Vanilla Self by scholars Alice Marwick and Mikaela Pitcan, respectability politics consists of three main facets. The first is to reinforce a hierarchy contrasted between a respectable individual and a shameful other. The second is to encourage people to defy stereotypes attributed to different aspects of their identity in attempts to present one's self as respectable. Finally, the third facet involves tailoring one's behavior to better comply with white, middle-class cultural norms, and consequently reinforcing the status quo. A hypothetical example of this in play would be a person who chooses to speak standard American English, as opposed to African-American vernacular English, to a non-Black audience as a method of aligning themself with white cultural norms.

Black respectability politics

The term "politics of respectability" was first used in the context of Black women and their efforts to distance themselves from the stereotypical and frowned-upon aspects of their communities. Respectability politics continues to influence the behaviour of racially marginalized Black individuals in the 21st century who gain status and rights by "adhering to hegemonic standards of what it means to be respectable". Black individuals practicing respectability politics are stereotyped as being most concerned with laziness, intellectual inferiority, violence, and immorality.
While respectability politics has been an important way for Black citizens of the United States to integrate into their free lives post-emancipation, there is also a notion that "a deliberate concession to mainstream societal values" does not promote respect. Instead it is seen as a defense mechanism of minority communities. Some research studies associate part of the high burden of mental health problems with Black Americans on assimilationist behaviors. Researchers Hedwig Lee and Margaret Takako Hicken argue that further conversations about respectability politics should always consider the challenges Black Americans negotiate in everyday social spaces, and establish how they impact Black American mental health.
The development of African-American politics of respectability has been traced to writers and activists, such as W. E. B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington, and has been used as a way of understanding the election and political trajectory of Barack Obama. Obama has been criticized for his use of respectability politics during his presidency, such as the time he brought up issues of Black criminality during his speech following the November 24th grand jury decision regarding the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. One of the most open proponents of respectability politics is former basketball player Charles Barkley. Scholars have linked the television series Black-ish to a variety of intersections and fiscal perspectives springing from Black respectability politics.

Origin

In her 1993 book Righteous Discontent: The Women's Movement in the Black Baptist Church, 1880–1920, historian Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham coined the term "the politics of respectability" to describe social and political changes in the Black community during that time. She particularly focused on the revitalization of the Black Baptist Church and how it became a location of self-help for Blacks. This was particularly true for Black women, who used the church as a location of resistance against racism and dehumanization. These women built schools and provided social welfare services to enhance their respectability and promote their communities.
This type of mobilization continued and infiltrated the methodology of teachers in Black communities in the Jim Crow South. Teachers encouraged their students to integrate themselves into white, middle class communities in the hopes of motivating and inspiring students to escape racial injustice. These teachers viewed their profession as a political act, helping young Black students disassociate from negative stereotypes. Black communities were expected to integrate themselves into white society and act white in order to gain access to political benefits.
In the book Black Power: The Politics of Liberation, Kwame Ture, formerly known as Stokely Carmichael, and Charles V. Hamilton illustrate how the town of Tuskegee, Alabama is not recognized in politics by white politicians. Ture and Hamilton go on to argue that Black people constantly have to prove themselves to white people, a never-ending cycle because once one aspect of being white is achieved, another obstacle is placed in their way.

Health implications of respectability politics

On an individual level, respectability politics can manifest itself in impression management behaviors. Across all socioeconomic levels, there are some Black people who agree that partaking in impression management is necessary in order to navigate everyday life in a racialized society. However, these behaviors, also referred to as vigilant behaviors, can have negative consequences on people. In this specific case, vigilance can be defined as "anticipatory and ruminative thoughts and behaviors involved in the preparation for discriminatory treatment and mirror behaviors that align with the presentation of self strategies encouraged by proponents of Black respectability politics but likely utilized by many African Americans to engage in racially hierarchical social spaces."
For many Black people, vigilant behaviors take the form of altering one's presentation of self, including one's dress, manner of speech, etc., "avoiding social situations where likelihood of discrimination may be higher," and "daily preparation for possible experiences with prejudice and discrimination." Research shows that this anticipatory stress can often be detrimental to one's health because this activates the body's primary stress response system, known as the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis. Activating the HPA axis is known to help the body to better deal with said stress. However, when the anticipatory stress is very frequent, it can cause "dysfunction of the stress response system and then poor mental and physical health."

Black Lives Matter

The Black Lives Matter movement is an example of a movement against respectability politics. The movement was motivated by the shooting and death of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed Black teenager. The number of subsequent police killings of unarmed Black men that gained broad national attention motivated a conversation about racial stereotypes and why certain racial stereotypes came to imply that Black men are "dangerous". The Black Lives Matter movement argues that people are deserving of rights regardless of "any ostensibly non-respectable behaviour." Instead of acknowledging and shying away from negative Black stereotypes, the Black Lives Matter movement works to expand the concept of what it means to be "respectable" and argues that negatively stereotyped behaviour should not be met with deadly force.
In line with the growth of the Black Lives Matter movement, some celebrities who have typically shied away from conversations about race began to engage with the topic. For example, at the beginning of her career, popular television producer and creator Shonda Rhimes aired shows that had colourblind scripts, despite having diverse casts. This was consistent with modern respectability politics in what is sometimes argued to be a post-racial era. Today, Rhimes engages in conversations about racial inequality in the media and addresses racially charged topics on her show, pushing against respectability politics and affirming the rights of all people regardless of their "respectability".