The Influence of the Great Recession on Racial Attitudes among non-Hispanic Whites

• In Event: 130 - Section on Racial and Ethnic Minorities Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 07. Racial and Ethnic Attitudes

Abstract

The focus of our study is to understand the effects of the 2008-2009 Great Recession on non-Hispanic white attitudes towards blacks using consumer uncertainty as in indicator of economic stress. We use 2006, 2008, and 2010 cross-sectional data from the General Social Survey, and we limit our analysis to only non-Hispanic whites. We use logistic regression for each year to examine the impact of consumer sentiment on the racial attitudes of whites. Our preliminary results indicate that only post-recession consumer sentiment is negatively associated with the probability of the view that the U.S. is spending too much on improving the living conditions of blacks, which contrasts to the positive relationship we find between consumer sentiment and the probability of the view that the U.S. is spending too much on national defense. Overall, we conclude that the Great Recession does affect the racial attitudes of whites and that consumer sentiment is a strong predictor of policy preferences. Only post-Recession (2010), whites are more likely to think that the U.S. is spending too much to improve the living conditions of blacks when consumer sentiment is low than when consumer sentiment is high.

Authors

• Kimberly R. Huyser, University of New Mexico

• Edward D Vargas, University of New Mexico

• Vickie Ybarra, University of New Mexico

• Justin Hollis, University of New Mexico