This examination of the use of the Internet in African American politics begins with an investigation of how access to and wider structural forces in United States society and economy shape usage of the Internet within African America. The second part examines the qualitative experiences of African American on-line. It looks at a variety of resources available across the Internet and assesses the extent to which these have facilitated, or are likely to facilitate, opportunities for deeper political engagement by African Americans. However, the third and concluding part of the paper asks whether the effectiveness of the Internet as a medium for political communication and interaction for African Americans can be assessed adequately through a focus on the impact of the Internet on 'traditional' forms of political activity. Here, it suggests an alternative way of understanding African American on-line activity. It argues that the true significance of the Internet for African Americans may lie less in its ability to increase levels of political activity within existing institutions than in its ability to facilitate new forms of activity that either bypass those institutions or directly compete with them.