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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2022 Jan 1.
Published in final edited form as: Sociol Race Ethn (Thousand Oaks). 2020 Mar 18;7(1):101–115. doi: 10.1177/2332649220911387

“Yes We Can!” The Mental Health Significance for U.S. Black Adults of Barack Obama’s 2008 Presidential Election

Tony N Brown 1, Alexa Solazzo 2, Bridget K Gorman 1
PMCID: PMC8168787  NIHMSID: NIHMS1580488  PMID: 34084872

Abstract

This study examines the mental health significance of Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential election for black adults. His election was a milestone moment. Hence, we expect black adults would experience improved mental health after the first self-identified black person wins election to the most powerful position in the United States. Using nationally representative survey data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), we address this expectation by predicting poor mental health days that black adults report pre-election and post-election. We find no overall difference in poor mental health days between the time periods. However, a statistical interaction between gender and time period demonstrates black men report 1.01 fewer poor mental health days after the election, whereas black women report .45 more poor mental health days after the election.

Keywords: Barack Obama, BRFSS, gender, mental health, quasi-experiment, social determinants of health, symbolic empowerment

RACISM AND SYMBOLIC EMPOWERMENT

Race endures as a social determinant of various markers of physical health and, to a lesser extent, mental health. Scholars conclude that racism—a fundamental cause of well-being and socioeconomic status—explains why race shows health significance (Bor et al. 2018; Brown 2003, 2008; Brown, Sellers, and Gomez 2002; Brown et al. 2000; Chae et al. 2015; Chetty et al. 2018; Clark et al. 1999; Goosby, Cheadle, and Mitchell 2018; Jackson et al. 1996; Jones 2000; Krieger 2012; LaVeist 2005; Mouzon and McLean 2017; Phelan and Link 2015; Sewell and Jefferson 2016; Turner, Brown, and Hale 2017; Williams and Jackson 2005; Williams, Neighbors, and Jackson 2003; Yeonjin et al. 2015). This body of work demonstrates interpersonal discrimination, differential access to healthcare, police brutality, internalized prejudice, institutional discrimination, residential racial segregation, mass incarceration, socioeconomic inequities, bias in healthcare, and so on, operate as social determinants of health and, more pointedly, as mechanisms through which racism determines who lives sicker and under psychological duress, and who dies younger and needlessly.

Yet we know racism and other -isms (e.g., classism, sexism, ableism, and colorism) are not fully determinative of lifestyles and life chances because of agency (Bell 1992:378–379; Collins 1990; King, Jr. 1967; Ray et al. 2017; West 1993). Racism and other -isms can be and are challenged. There are moments when mass mobilization appears to topple legacies of inequality (e.g., the civil rights movement) and times when organic coalitions fight for social justice (e.g., the #BlackLivesMatter, #DontMuteDC, and #MeToo movements).

But engineering progressive social change is difficult because racism and other -isms structure individual, interpersonal, and institutional actions (Anderson 2016; Crenshaw 1989; Jones 2000; Oliver and Shapiro 2006; Ray et al. 2017; West 1993; Wilson 2012). Further, inertia that buttresses willful ignorance causes more powerful individuals to disregard the suffering of less powerful individuals. Further still, systems of oppression interlock so challenges to one system are often nullified by other systems of oppression (e.g., racism and sexism; racism and poverty; see Collins 2005; Crenshaw 1989, 1991; LaVeist 2005; Matlon 2016; Oliver and Shapiro 2006; Phelan and Link 2015; Wilson 2012; Young, Jr. 2018). Moreover, simultaneous to shifts and activism promoting social justice, there are moments that entrench inequality of various forms. For example, Islamophobia thrived in the immediate post-9/11 United States (Haque et al. 2019). As another example, reported hate crimes against LGBT individuals surpassed previous high marks in recent years (Dashow 2017). As a final example, Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential election set in motion changes and rhetoric marginalizing many groups (e.g., immigrants, women, and descendants of African slaves) who made America great but were never fully credited for their efforts (Anderson 2016).

Why do dialectic shifts between social progress and regression matter for health? Existing scholarship suggests shifts in the sociopolitical context can protect or harm health (see Hatzenbuehler et al. 2017; Jackson et al. 1996; Lauderdale 2006; LaVeist 1993; Salas, Ayón, and Gurrola 2013; Solazzo, Brown, and Gorman 2018; Southern Poverty Law Center 2016; Toomey et al. 2014; Williams and Medlock 2017). There are at least two ways it happens. First, certain sociopolitical contexts facilitate policy development (e.g., Medicare and Medicaid, Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978, Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act, Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act). Policy shows health significance, protecting or sometimes endangering population health. For example, Williams and Medlock (2017) warned cuts to health and social services in the United States, such as the threatened repeal of the Affordable Care Act, are likely to exacerbate health challenges poor and racial minority populations face. Second, and motivating this study, moments of movement toward social justice can empower members of an aggrieved group. Such symbolic empowerment occurs when members of an aggrieved group experience a sociopolitical context where a progressive redistribution of power seems possible and possibly ineluctable (Ikard and Teasley 2012; King, Jr. 1967; McKnight 1985; Parker 2016:219; West 1993; Williams and Medlock 2017).

We propose symbolic empowerment increases hope and optimism. Specifically, hope and optimism spike when members of an aggrieved group believe whatever injustice they face will soon be alleviated. For example, during the 1960s in the United States, passage of landmark legislation pronouncing racial segregation of public spaces and accommodations illegal was a moment of symbolic empowerment for most blacks. Accompanying the legislation was anticipation that the experience of full citizenship would soon cross the color line. However, we suspect the health significance of symbolic empowerment is short-lived because racial disparities in lifestyles and life chances remain durable and reinforce each other (Bell 1992; Jones 2000; Krieger 2012; LaVeist 2005; Oliver and Shapiro 2006; Phelan and Link 2015; Williams and Jackson 2005; Wilson 2012). For example, residential racial segregation, one manifestation of racism, shapes disparities in health, wealth, and education (Phelan and Link 2015; Quillian 2014; Williams and Collins 2001). In turn, disparities in education and wealth reinforce residential racial segregation (Oliver and Shapiro 2006), and differential policing of people predicts education and health disparities (Bor et al. 2018; Pettit 2012; Sewell and Jefferson 2016).

EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE OF SYMBOLIC EMPOWERMENT

To our knowledge, no studies theorize symbolic empowerment as we do here. Hence, we craft hypotheses by reviewing studies showing sociopolitical context matters for health and, while doing so, attempt to validate symbolic empowerment. For example, using nationally representative panel survey data spanning 13 years and overlapping with Jesse Jackson’s 1988 presidential campaign, Jackson and colleagues (1996) found black adults’ views of racial progress improved and they reported reduced levels of psychological distress and physical health disability around 1988. The authors attributed this pattern to Jesse Jackson’s visibility and campaign message promoting social justice. We think they captured evidence supporting symbolic empowerment using time period.

Also using time period, but showing the power of symbolic disempowerment, Lauderdale (2006) considered whether increases in exposure to interpersonal discrimination among those perceived as Arab showed health significance following the September 11, 2001 attacks. She used California birth certificate data for 2000, 2001, and 2002 to determine the relative risk of poor birth outcomes by race, ethnicity, and nativity for women who gave birth in the six-month time period following September 11, 2001, compared to the same six-month time period one year earlier. Findings showed the relative risk of poor birth outcomes was significantly elevated but only among Arabic-named women.

Krieger (2012) specified symbolic empowerment as the intersection of time period and context. She found white populations experienced the lowest mortality rates between 1960 and 1970 when they lived within (former) Jim Crow states. This finding suggests legacies of inequality can symbolically empower and protect whites. Finally, LaVeist (1992) studied black political power and post-neonatal mortality rates in 176 central cities across 32 states. He operationalized black political power as proportion black on the city council divided by proportion black in the voting-age population. Results show cities with high black political power experienced low black post-neonatal mortality rates. We think black political power can be an indicator of symbolic empowerment.

Studies reviewed above confirm sociopolitical context can influence health. However, they focus almost entirely on physical health outcomes (two focus exclusively on birth outcomes) and do not flesh out exactly why symbolic empowerment might matter. Therefore, we examine mental health and propose symbolic empowerment manifests health significance during time periods when the sociopolitical context shifts.

HYPOTHESES

We validate symbolic empowerment by examining the moment when Barack Obama was elected president of the United States on November 4, 2008. We could find no studies addressing directly the mental health significance of his election for blacks. Although Frederick Douglass, Shirley Chisolm, and others including Jesse Jackson ran previously for president, Obama was the first self-identified black person elected president, earning approximately 96 percent of the black vote (Kuhn 2008). Popular accounts described him as “articulate” (Alim and Smitherman 2012), young, safe to older whites, hip to younger whites, and he mobilized diverse swaths of people by suggesting ‘what separated us was less meaningful than what connected us’ (Bobo and Dawson 2009; Moore and Bell 2010; Parker 2016; Price 2016; Teasley and Ikard 2010). For some blacks and whites alike, he symbolized racial transcendence and the death of racism (Esposito and Romano 2014; Ikard and Teasley 2012; Moore and Bell 2010; Teasley and Ikard 2010; Walters 2007). His election, which seemed unlikely because it depended on the white vote, ignited a moment of collective racial effervescence among blacks. If our framing of symbolic empowerment makes sense, then his 2008 presidential election should manifest salubrious mental health significance for black adults. Consequently, we hypothesize black adults would report better mental health post-election, compared to pre-election (H1).

In addition, although symbolic empowerment is not gendered theoretically, nor does the most similar study to this one (see Jackson et al. 1996) report that gender matters for symbolic empowerment, we are sensitive to the fact that, to date, every U.S. president has been a man. We are sensitive to the fact that gender is a robust correlate of health often showing main and moderating effects when predicting physical health and, to a lesser extent, mental health. Finally, we are sensitive to the notion that race and gender are correlated axes of stratification. Consequently, we explore whether black men would experience even better mental health than black women post-election, compared to pre-election (H2).

Logic guiding this exploratory hypothesis is that Barack Obama becoming president might mean more to black men than black women. We theorize when symbolic empowerment happens as personified homophily—a sociopolitical shift linked to a specific individual (e.g., Barack Obama) who overlaps demographically with select members of an aggrieved group (e.g., black men)—then it should activate stronger health protective effects for those most similar to the specific individual. There is evidence to support this theorization. For example, in urban education research, Lomotey (1987) argued homophily explains why having a black principal associates with high black student achievement in urban, predominantly black elementary schools. Further, Lomotey and Lowery (2014) discussed how a black principal’s identity increases achievement among black students because black principals serve as role models with cultural connections and enact racially sensitive leadership styles. Similarly, in industrial organizational research invoking the similarity-attraction paradigm (see Young et al. 1997), Avery, Hernandez, and Hebl (2004) found black and Hispanic job applicants are more interested in working for a firm whose recruitment literature includes diverse organizational representatives. Homophily with the diverse organizational representatives mediates the recruitment literature’s influence on job applicants’ level of interest. Of relevance here, diverse organizational representatives did not affect white applicants’ level of interest in working for a firm. Returning to the health significance of symbolic empowerment, these non-health-related studies imply black men would gain more than black women from Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential election because they (literally) see themselves represented.

STUDY CONTRIBUTIONS

This study makes several novel contributions. First, symbolic empowerment is a theoretical framework capturing a way to estimate variability in the health significance of racism. Second, many sociological health studies rely on the stress process model (Pearlin et al. 1981; Pearlin 1989; Turner 2013), which is an individual-level framework theorizing how and why certain negative experiences arising from the routine circumstances of life overwhelm an individual’s capacity to respond. In contrast, symbolic empowerment is an ecological framework describing how shifts in the sociopolitical context hypothetically protect population health and, in this case, the health of black adults. Third, we address how sociopolitical context matters beyond policy development. We describe why dialectic shifts between social progress and regression might matter for aggrieved groups. Fourth, we analyze nationally representative survey data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) and investigate black adults’ mental health before and after November 4, 2008. Our design could be replicated to examine other shifts in the sociopolitical context because BRFSS collects data year-round and has done so since 1984.

Analyses reveal no significant overall difference in poor mental health days among black adults pre-election and post-election. Thus, H1 is not supported. However, compared to pre-election, black men experience significantly fewer poor mental health days post-election, whereas black women experience no significant change in their poor mental health days post-election. Thus, H2 is supported. In the Discussion, we elaborate symbolic empowerment as a theoretical framework and advance four potential explanations for black women’s null results. We conclude by encouraging researchers to investigate the health significance of shifts in the sociopolitical context.

METHODS

Data

We analyzed nationally representative survey data from the 2008 and 2009 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). The BRFSS is this nation’s premier system of health-related telephone surveys and collects data year-round from adults regarding their risk behaviors, chronic health conditions, and use of preventive services. Established in 1984 with 15 states, BRFSS currently collects data in 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and three U.S. territories. BRFSS completes more than 400,000 survey interviews each year, making it the largest continuously conducted health surveillance system in the world. For more information about the BRFSS or to access the BRFSS questionnaires or survey data, visit https://www.cdc.gov/brfss/index.html.

The available sample included self-identified black adults participating in the 2008 or 2009 BRFSS (n=103,496). Because we aimed to isolate a contemporaneous and short-lived effect of Barack Obama’s presidential election on November 4, 2008, we restricted the available sample. Specifically, we included black adults (n=5,463) who were surveyed during one of two time periods: 2008-10-05 to 2008-11-03 (i.e., 30 days before the election) or 2008-12-04 to 2009-01-02 (i.e., a period that starts 30 days after the election). The second time period started 30 days after the election to accommodate an incubation interval, which permits significance of the election result to concretize. In addition, the second time period started 30 days after the election to account for the dependent variable’s “during the past 30 days” framing, thereby strengthening potential causal claims. Figure 1 graphically displays the pre-election and post-election time periods, and incubation interval. Finally, we kept respondents with complete information on study variables, resulting in an estimation sample size of n=4,603.

Figure 1.

Figure 1.

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Time Periods Before and After Barack Obama’s 2008 Presidential Election on November 4, 2008

Measures

Number of poor mental health days reported during the past 30 days (range=0 to 30) was the outcome. The question read: “Now thinking about your mental health, which includes stress, depression, and problems with emotions, for how many days during the past 30 days was your mental health not good?” The primary predictor was whether the survey interview occurred during one of two time periods: 2008-10-05 to 2008-11-03 (i.e., 30 days before the election) or 2008-12-04 to 2009-01-02 (i.e., a period that starts 30 days after the election). We treat the time periods as a control condition and an experimental condition, respectively, with the exposure being Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential election on November 4, 2008.

Control variables included established social determinants of health. For example, sociodemographic controls included: gender (i.e., men, women), age (range=18 to 96 years of age), number of children in household (range=0 to 9), and marital status (i.e., married, formerly married, never married, unmarried couple). Socioeconomic controls included: education (i.e., less than high school, grade 12 or GED, some college, college or more), total household income (i.e., less than $25,000, $25,000 to $49,999, $50,000 and $74,999 and $75,000 and greater), and employment status (i.e., paid employment, retired, unable to work, other). We also controlled for whether respondents lived in a state where Barack Obama won or lost the majority of votes (i.e., “blue state” or “red state,” respectively). Information regarding which 2008 presidential candidate received the most votes by state was retrieved from the New York Times 2008 Presidential Election Results page (New York Times 2008). Finally, we modeled state as a random variable to adjust for shared variance among respondents occurring because they reside in the same state.

Analytic Strategies

BFRSS respondents are randomly and continuously surveyed across an entire calendar year. Respondents have the same probability of being contacted any day of the calendar year, barring major holidays. We treat this feature of the BFRSS design as a form of randomization. Presumably, any unmeasured characteristics (e.g., optimism, poor mental health, and political orientation) are distributed randomly across the two time points. Data in the estimation sample come from all 50 states.

We present unweighted analyses treating the two time periods as representing quasi-experimental assignment. Patterns in Table 1, where study variables do not differ significantly pre-election and post-election, support treatment of the two time periods as representing a control condition and an experimental condition, respectively. Item non-response was low (i.e., on average, 2.6 percent per variable) but after listwise deletion, the estimation sample was 4,603. Missing cases should not affect the results because they ought to be distributed randomly across the two time periods. In Table 1, we generated descriptive statistics for the full sample and stratified by whether the survey interview occurred pre-election or post-election. In Table 2, we presented estimates from regression models. Because the dependent variable originates from a count probability distribution with over-dispersion and because we control for a second-level factor (i.e., state), we applied random effects negative binomial regression. To address H1, Model 1 in Table 2 includes time period and the control variables. To address H2, Model 2 in Table 2 includes gender, time period, a statistical interaction between gender and time period, and the control variables. All analyses were conducted in Stata 15.1 and the command file is available upon request.

Table 1.

Descriptive Statistics on Black Adults Surveyed in the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) during Time Periods Before and After Barack Obama’s 2008 Presidential Election (n=5,463)

Full Sample Pre-Election Post-Election
Dependent Variable
Number of poor mental health days 4.38 (8.6) 4.46 (8.6) 4.28 (8.5)
Independent Variables
Gender
Men 31.12 30.34 32.12
Women 68.88 69.66 67.88
Age 50.96 (15.6) 50.95 (15.5) 50.70 (15.7)
Children .72 (1.2) .74 (1.2) .68 (1.1)
Marital Status
 Married 34.03 33.17 35.14
 Formerly Married 38.10 39.03 36.91
 Never Married 25.86 25.70 26.08
 Unmarried Couple 2.00 2.10 1.87
Education
 Less than High School 13.49 14.18 12.60
 Grade 12 or GED 33.71 33.74 33.68
 Some College 28.64 28.12 29.31
 College or more 24.16 23.96 24.41
Income
 Less than $25,000 46.00 46.79 44.98
 Between $25,000 and $49,999 28.25 28.57 27.85
 Between $50,000 and $74,999 12.08 12.24 11.87
 $75,000 and over 13.67 12.40 15.30
Employment
 Paid Employment 53.87 53.74 54.03
 Retired 20.00 19.80 20.25
 Unable to work 12.63 12.69 12.55
 Other 13.51 13.78 13.17
Election
 Pre-Election 56.30
 Post-Election 43.70
State
 Red 39.10 40.08 37.84
 Blue 60.90 59.92 62.16
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Notes. Proportion in each category, with means and standard errors where appropriate.

Bolded estimates represent categories where there is a statistically significant difference (i.e., p < .05) between pre-election and post-election respondents. Estimation sample size equals 4,603.

Table 2.

Estimates from Random Effects Negative Binomial Regressions Predicting Poor Mental Health Days among Black Adults Surveyed in the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) during Time Periods Before and After Barack Obama’s 2008 Presidential Election (n=5,463)

Model 1 Model 2
Woman (REF: MAN) 1.34** 1.14
(.120) (.134)
Age .99* .99*
(.004) (.004)
Children 1.01 1.00
(.039) (.039)
Marital status (REF: MARRIED)
Formerly Married 1.02 1.03
(.104) (.104)
Never Married 1.03 1.03
(.119) (.118)
Part of an unmarried couple 1.13 1.09
(.329) (.318)
Education (REF: LESS THAN H.S.)
Grade 12 or GED .83 .83
(.108) (.108)
Some College 1.04 1.03
(.145) (.144)
College or More .91 .90
(.140) (.139)
Income (REF: LESS THAN $25,000)
Between $25,000 and $49,999 .69*** .70***
(.071) (.072)
Between $50,000 and $74,999 .64** .65**
(.095) (.096)
$75,000 and over .53*** .54***
(.080) (.081)
Employment status (REF: PAID EMPLOY)
Retired 1.03 1.03
(.141) (.141)
Unable to work 2.61*** 2.64***
(.352) (.355)
Other 1.66*** 1.67***
(.210) (.211)
Post-Election (REF: PRE-ELECTION) .98 .75*
(.079) (.109)
Blue state (REF: RED STATE) 1.11 1.11
(.092) (.092)
Woman X Post-Election 1.46*
(.255)
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Notes. Incidence rate ratios (IRR) shown with standard errors in parentheses. Estimation sample size equals 4,603.

*

p < .05

**

p < .01

***

p < .001

RESULTS

Table 1 displays descriptive statistics for the study variables among respondents in the full sample and stratified by time period. More respondents were interviewed from 2008-10-05 to 2008-11-03 (i.e., 30 days before the election) than from 2008-12-04 to 2009-01-02 (i.e., a period that starts 30 days after the election). This was due to fewer people being interviewed around the Christmas and New Year holidays. Table 1 also demonstrates that the study variables’ distributions were statistically identical across the two time periods. The only exception was the proportion of respondents earning more than $75,000. It was higher post-election (15.3 percent) compared to pre-election (12.4 percent) and could be due to year-end bonuses but we cannot determine whether that is the case with these data.

Table 1 shows black adults reported around four poor mental health days, on average, during the previous 30-days. Respondents were about 51 years old. Two-thirds of respondents were black women, and most respondents reported being married (34.0 percent) or formerly married (38.1 percent). In terms of socioeconomic status, more than a third of respondents had earned a high school degree or GED (33.7 percent), followed by some college (28.6 percent), and then a college degree (24.2 percent). Almost half the respondents earned less than $25,000 per year; just over half were employed. Finally, 60.9 percent of respondents lived in a state where Barack Obama won the majority of votes in fall 2008 (i.e., a blue state).

Table 2 presents estimates from random effects negative binomial regression models. Model 1 shows that, compared to black men, black women reported significantly more poor mental health days (IRR=1.34, p < .05). Each year increase in age associated with a reduction in the rate of poor mental health days. Children, marital status, and education were not linked statistically with poor mental health days, whereas high income predicted a smaller rate of poor mental health days. Contrary to H1, respondents interviewed pre-election reported a similar number of poor mental health days compared to those interviewed post-election. Finally, living in a blue state versus red state was a non-significant correlate of mental health. In analyses not shown, we re-ran Table 2‘s Model 1 regressions excluding swing states and results were substantively unchanged.

For H2, we explored whether gender moderated the association between symbolic empowerment and poor mental health days. We wanted to know if black men gained more than black women from Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential election. Therefore, in Model 2, we introduced a statistical interaction between gender and time period. It was statistically significant (IRR=1.46, p < .05) and indicated the gender difference in poor mental health days was 46 percent larger post-election compared to pre-election. The interaction along with main effects for gender and time period confirms that pre-election, black men and women reported comparable poor mental health days, on average. Post-election, however, black men reported significantly fewer poor mental health days, compared to black women. Further, the number of poor mental health days did not differ significantly by time period for black women. To sum, black women remained at steady state whereas black men reported fewer poor mental health days.

To facilitate interpretation of the statistical interaction between gender and time period, we graphed it in Figure 2. It shows that, pre-election, black men reported 4.04 poor mental health days whereas post-election, they reported 3.03 days. In contrast, pre-election, black women reported 4.60 poor mental health days whereas post-election, they reported 5.05 days. The net post-election gender disparity equals 2.02 days. However, black men pre-election, black women pre-election, and black women post-election reported statistically comparable numbers of poor mental health days (see Figure 2).

Figure 2.

Figure 2.

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Predicted Poor Mental Health Days among Black Adults by Time Periods Before and After Barack Obama’s 2008 Presidential Election and Gender Using Nationally Representative Survey Data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS)

Sensitivity Analysis

We conducted sensitivity analysis to corroborate the results. First, we addressed whether the dependent variable’s coding influenced the findings. Results reported above do not differ substantively if we model poor mental health days as a categorical variable. Second, we addressed whether Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential election would mean more to older blacks who lived during Jim Crow. Specifically, we explored a statistical interaction involving time period and age. It was not statistically significant. Third, we addressed whether a granular measurement of time mattered. We coded time as a discrete numeric predictor (i.e., −30 to −1 through 1 to 30, representing days before and after the election date, respectively, with an incubation interval), but observed no statistically significant results. When modelling time as a discrete numeric predictor, we also fit cubic splines to assess non-linear patterns but the splines were not statistically significant. Fourth, we addressed whether black men typically experience decreased poor mental health days around the winter holidays. With black adults, we replicated analyses reported in Table 2 for identical time periods in fall 2007 and found no statistically significant interaction between gender and time period. Finally, we replicated the analyses with whites in fall 2008 and found no statistically significant results. Null findings for whites confirm that symbolic empowerment related to Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential election was specific to black men.

DISCUSSION

Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential election was a milestone moment in U.S. history. Many whites believed his victory proved racism was irrelevant and anyone can succeed, if they work hard enough (Bobo and Dawson 2009; Esposito and Romano 2014; Ikard and Teasley 2012; Moore and Bell 2010; Parker 2016; Walters 2007). Many blacks believed his victory was an opportunity for this nation to redress historical and contemporary legacies of racism (Bobo and Dawson 2009; Ikard and Teasley 2012; Price 2016; Ray et al. 2017; Teasley and Ikard 2010). Regardless, we argue Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential election was a shift in the sociopolitical climate that should demonstrate health significance for blacks through symbolic empowerment.

In fact, we found black men experienced a significant post-election decline in poor mental health days, consistent with H2 and validating symbolic empowerment. Although we could not examine mechanisms due to data limitations, we suspect hope and optimism are implicated (Carver and Scheier 2014; Scheier and Carver 1992). Demonstrating an ecological, health protective effect for black men’s mental health is a novel contribution to a literature focusing primarily on disadvantage and individual-level negative experiences arising from the routine circumstances of life that overwhelm an individual’s capacity to respond (Pearlin et al. 1981; Pearlin 1989; Turner 2013).

To contextualize the effect size reported herein, consider a recently published study employing a comparable design with data that overlapped Barack Obama’s second presidential term. With nationally representative survey data (n=103,710) from the 2013–2015 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), Bor and colleagues (2018) examined exposure to police shootings of unarmed blacks occurring three months prior to respondents’ survey interviews and poor mental health days (our outcome). Half their respondents were exposed to police shootings of unarmed blacks and exposure predicted .14 additional poor mental health days. In this study, black men reported 1.01 significantly fewer poor mental health days after Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential election, which represents an association of considerably greater magnitude.

Nevertheless, we should distinguish between symbolic empowerment versus material empowerment (Anderson 2016; Moore and Bell 2010; Jones 2000; King, Jr. 1967; Ray et al. 2017; West 1993). Race and racism scholars can confirm heath, wealth, education, and incarceration disparities are durable (Chetty et al. 2018; LaVeist 1993; 2005; Pettit 2012; Quillian 2014; Oliver and Shapiro 2006; Turner et al. 2017; Williams and Jackson 2005; Wilson 2012; Young, Jr. 2018). Until such disparities are reduced, racism remains a potent social determinant of lifestyles and life chances, including health. Black men feeling proud, represented, and less invisible because a self-identified black man becomes president of the United States is a Pyrrhic victory in relation to such disparities and the white rage that usually follows black progress (Anderson 2016; Bell 1992; Esposito and Romano 2014; Ikard and Teasley 2012; Parker 2016; Ray et al. 2017; Teasley and Ikard 2010).

In terms of black women, their number of poor mental health days did not differ significantly pre-election and post-election. This result does not support the expectation (H1) we derived about symbolic empowerment. Two studies reviewed earlier examining shifts in the sociopolitical context (i.e., Lauderdale 2006; LaVeist 1992) focus exclusively on birth outcomes, therefore we think the theoretical framework can apply to women. Thus, we now speculate about why black women’s poor mental health days would remain consistent after Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential election. We offer four potential explanations: (1) internal conflict related to supporting Hillary Clinton, (2) identification with Michelle Obama, (3) realistic conflict between black men and women, and (4) racial realism.

First, Hillary Clinton lost the Democratic nomination to Barack Obama on August 27, 2008. Some would argue black women compromised when they voted on November 4, 2008 to elect a black man instead of voting for a (white) woman and, consequently, experienced internal conflict. It follows then that black men made no such compromise. However, internal conflict over Hillary Clinton seems unlikely given the segregated sisterhood and the lived distinction between white feminists and black womanists (Caraway 1991; Collins 1990, 2005; Crenshaw 1989, 1991). Black women are loyal Democrats, and Hillary Clinton earned their support because of that fact. If there had been a black woman Democrat running against Barack Obama in fall 2008, then this explanation would be more credible.

Second, Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential election put a black family in harm’s way. As caregivers in and the foundation of the black community, black women may have identified with Michelle Obama (and Sasha and Malia Obama) and feared for them. Black women’s fear was justified. For instance, studies conducted immediately after Barack Obama’s election found an uptick in racial animosity among white women and men, alongside a proliferation of hate websites and anti-Obama sentiment on social media (Moody et al. 2012; Williams and Medlock 2017). Not surprisingly, Harnden (2009) and Zeleny, and Rutenberg (2009) reported Barack Obama received significantly more death threats than his predecessor, and those threats were particularly high during the first four months of his presidency. Further, in the 10 days following his 2008 election, there were 867 election-motivated hate crimes reported in the United States (Southern Poverty Law Center 2016). The identification explanation seems plausible given how often the first family was under attack and consequently may explain why black women’s poor mental health days did not decline post-election. In contrast to black women, black men may not have felt the same type of fear about the first family’s safety.

Third, immediately after Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential election, black women may have viewed his victory as an example of black men making headway at their expense. Although we could find no empirical evidence to support this position, black women may have presumed his election would only benefit black men, thereby creating realistic conflict. There is no doubt sexism is alive in the black community (especially private patriarchy, Collins 1990) and racism shapes how sexism is experienced. Along those lines, Crenshaw (1991:1252) wrote:

…racism as experienced by people of color who are of a particular gender—male—tends to determine the parameters of antiracist strategies, just as sexism as experienced by women who are of a particular race—white—tends to ground the women’s movement. The problem is not simply that both discourses fail women of color by not acknowledging the ‘additional’ burden of patriarchy or of racism, but that the discourses are often inadequate even to the discrete tasks of articulating the full dimensions of racism and sexism. Because women of color experience racism in ways not always the same as those experienced by men of color, and sexism in ways not always parallel to experiences of white women, dominant conceptions of antiracism and feminism are limited, even on their own terms.

Black women’s poor mental health days may not have declined post-election because they perceived Obama could only address racism consistent with black men’s experiences. Little did they know, Obama would characteristically choose abstract liberalism and color-blind rhetoric (Bobo and Dawson 2009; Esposito and Romano 2014; Ikard and Teasley 2012; Moore and Bell 2010; Parker 2016; Price 2016; Ray et al. 2017; Teasley and Ikard 2010; Walters 2007). Regardless, this explanation contradicts the joy black women displayed publicly after Obama’s 2008 victory. But this explanation is consistent with the notion that racism is a gender-specific phenomenon (Chetty et al. 2018; Collins 2005; Crenshaw 1989, 1991; Matlon 2016).

Fourth, black women might have known in fall 2008 which way the nation would turn after Barack Obama’s tenure in the White House. For instance, they witnessed Obama forced to distance himself from the liberation theology practiced by Reverend Jeremiah Wright (pastor emeritus of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago), while simultaneously battling white women and men who asserted he was a Muslim immigrant during his 2008 campaign. During the Democratic primary, they watched Hillary Clinton play the race card to mobilize “hard-working Americans, white Americans” (Jackman and Vavreck 2010:161–2). Further, they may have been easier targets (compared to black men) for their white co-workers and bosses, some of whom viewed Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential election as a threat. As important, we suspect black women doubted any (black) elected official could engineer progressive social change. In essence, despite absence of gender differences in the belief that black elected officials improve race relations (see Brown, Duncan, and Kettrey 2017), what could Barack Obama accomplish realistically? This sentiment exemplifies racial realism (Bell 1992; Moore and Bell 2010; Ray et al. 2017). Bell (1992:373–4) defined racial realism as follows:

Black people will never gain full equality in this country. Even those herculean efforts we hail as successful will produce no more than temporary ‘peaks of progress,’ short-lived victories that slide into irrelevance as racial patterns adapt in ways that maintain white dominance. This is a hard-to-accept fact that all history verifies. We must acknowledge it and move on to adopt policies based on what I call: “Racial Realism.” This mind-set or philosophy requires us to acknowledge the permanence of our subordinate status. That acknowledgement enables us to avoid despair, and frees us to imagine and implement racial strategies that can bring fulfillment and even triumph.

We speculate black women experience higher levels of racial realism because of their positionality and because racism annihilates black men in and out their lives.

FUTURE RESEARCH AND LIMITATIONS

This study is the first to examine systematically the mental health significance for black adults of Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential election. Moreover, this study’s limitations provide a roadmap for future research. First, BRFSS data include additional health outcomes. For example, scholars could investigate whether symbolic empowerment operates salubriously for black adults’ physical health.

Second, the BRFSS fields a Reactions to Race Module. This module contains a measure of racial salience. Racial salience is the degree to which individuals think regularly about their race (Avery et al. 2004; Stryker and Serpe 1994). The module is administered infrequently and in very few states. However, it could provide evidence that Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential election caused black adults to think more regularly about being black, and that, in turn, showed health significance.

Third, there are other noteworthy dates from Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign. For example, he declared his candidacy on February 10, 2007. On March 18, 2008, Obama condemned Reverend Jeremiah Wright’s sermons. As a final example, his inauguration was on January 20, 2009. Future studies of symbolic empowerment could examine those dates. Fourth, self-report measures are subject to present state bias. That means respondents feeling awful might over-report poor mental health days, whereas those feeling wonderful might under-report the same. But this bias should be distributed randomly across the two time periods (see Analytic Strategies). Fifth, universal exposure to Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential election disqualifies statistical techniques that can isolate a casual effect (e.g., propensity score methods or difference in differences modeling). Related, it would be ideal to investigate symbolic empowerment and mental health using longitudinal data collected from the same individuals pre-election and post-election. To our knowledge, no such data exist and BRFSS data are the best available substitute.

Sixth, BRFSS data suffer from coverage bias, as do all community-based social surveys. For example, black men who completed survey interviews are probably well-off. However, black men not included typically in community-based social surveys, such as those who are incarcerated or in the military or away at college/university, would be ideal for examining whether the salubrious nature of symbolic empowerment generalizes. Might black-on-black violence in jails and prisons have decreased because of Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential election? Or might the number of black men who enlisted into the military have increased in the 30-day time period following his election, compared to the same 30-day time period a year prior? Or might his election have improved the academic performance of black men attending HBCUs? Such research questions deserve attention.

Seventh, in the Introduction, we described how sociopolitical climate shows health significance via policy development. Work on policy and health must continue (see Salas et al. 2013; Solazzo et al. 2018; Toomey et al. 2014; Wilson 2012). For instance, Hatzenbuehler et al. (2017) found Latinos living in states with more restrictive immigration policies experienced poor mental health. Eighth, Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential election may show differential mental health significance for subgroups in the black population (e.g., sexual minorities or Republicans or immigrants). Finally, Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential election may demonstrate the strongest mental health significance for youth who are generally more optimistic about race relations.

CONCLUSION

McKnight (1985:S38) stated: “…research indicates that it is impossible to produce health among the powerless. It is possible to allow health by transferring tools, authority, budgets and income to those with the malady of powerlessness.” Despite how racism endures, we think black men in fall 2008 experienced better mental health because they felt less invisible and powerless. They needed to believe they and the black community would benefit from Barack Obama’s victory (Ikard and Teasley 2012; Teasley and Ikard 2010; Ray et al. 2017; Walters 2007; Young, Jr. 2018). We speculate black women experienced no improvement in their mental health because they knew the racial status quo would return. They may better understand the permanence of racism from watching it harm black men, but also from racism’s gender-specific impact in their own lives. Black women enjoy the privilege (and burden) of being realistic as simultaneous members of two subordinated groups (e.g., blacks and women). Future research on social determinants of health must incorporate racism-related concepts such as powerlessness (Krieger 2012; LaVeist 1992, 1993), nihilism (West 1993:12–14), invisibility (Pettit 2012), and symbolic empowerment.

Acknowledgments

The first author thanks Verna Keith, Dawne Mouzon, Whitney Pirtle, Jaime Slaughter-Acey, Sherrill Sellers, and Louis Woods for their contributions to this study. The second author was supported in part by a grant from the National Cancer Institute (5T32CA009001). All authors thank members of the Racism and Racial Experiences (RARE) Workgroup and the Sociologists Talking about Population Health (STAPH) lab group at Rice University for their critical feedback on an early manuscript draft and perpetual encouragement. Findings herein were presented at the 2019 annual conference of the Association of Black Sociologists.

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