The Effect of Partisan and American Norms about Racism

• In Event: Reconsidering Racism and Racial Identity

Abstract

A lively debate among politicians, journalists, and pundits has been what ought and what ought not count as racism. In the wake of the Civil Rights Movement, there has been a shared norm against overt forms of racism, but recent scholarship suggests this norm may be receding, at least among some segments of the population. Within this debate, we are also less clear about norms as it pertains to subtle racism, institutional racism, and colorblind racism. To better understand the state of contemporary American politics, we measure, not just individual beliefs, but injunctive social norms—beliefs about what one ought to believe, according to others. More specifically, we measure norms surrounding four different conceptualizations of racism—overt racism, subtle racism, institutional racism, and colorblind racism—among Republicans, Democrats, and Americans more broadly. We also measure respondents’ individual beliefs about where they stand on these racial norms and compare it to their placement of groups. Finally, we examine how priming these group norms affects individual beliefs. First, we find substantial variation in norms across these conceptualizations, within groups, and between groups. The only type of racism on which people clearly seem to agree is overt racism. When it comes to other conceptualizations of racism, we see relatively strong normative agreement within parties and disagreement between parties. Moreover, Republicans and Democrats disagree on what other Americans, more broadly, expect them to believe. Finally, while many respondents initially express personal beliefs that differ from group norms, norm priming seems to have a powerful influence. Republicans and Democrats both feel pressure to conform to the norms of their party, but in the case of American norms, Republicans feel pressure to conform, while Democrats actually appear to be repelled—pushing both groups toward broader conceptualizations of racism.

Authors

• Mark A. Pickup, Simon Fraser University

• Eric Groenendyk, University of Memphis

• Erik O Kimbrough, Chapman University

• Antoine J. Banks, University of Maryland