Testing the stability and temporal order of People of Color Identity and People of Color Solidarity: New evidence from a survey panel of Asian, Black, Latino, and multiracial adults

Two crucial variables in the study of people of color (PoC) are identity and solidarity. Existing work construes identity as more stable than solidarity, with identity shifting solidarity between PoC. However, this view rests on cross-sectional evidence, limiting researchers’ ability to formally appraise these key variables’ stability and sequence. We report the first longitudinal evidence on these matters by leveraging a unique two-wave survey of Asian, Black, Latino, and multiracial adults. First, contrary to the current conceptualization, we find PoC solidarity is as stable as PoC identity, suggesting two alternate but durable sources of political unity among these groups. Second, consistent with its present conceptualization, we show PoC identity is associated with shifts in solidarity, but not vice versa. Third, we offer evidence that the dynamics between these variables hold uniformly across different PoC subgroups, highlighting this mega-group's coherence and political relevance. We conclude by discussing our results’ implications for US inter-minority politics.