Exploring Black Americans’ Trust in U.S. Social Institutions/Systems

• In Event: Racial and Ethnic Minorities Section Roundtables Session
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Table Five: Racial Experiences and Perspectives of Black People and African Americans

Abstract

While the topic of conspiracy theories is increasingly gaining sociological attention, there is a need for expanded knowledge regarding the conspiratorial beliefs of Black Americans. Existing literature suggests that experiences with societal discrimination, chronic social devaluation, and legacies of legitimate conspiracies targeted toward Black people undermine feelings of institutional trust, which in turn contributes to conspiratorial beliefs amongst this demographic. Using ordinal and logistic regression analyses, this project sought to illuminate predictors of intra-group variability amongst Black Americans in relation to their beliefs that various U.S. systems were designed to hold Black people back, as well as in relation to their beliefs in the occurrence of a variety of institutionally led conspiracies targeting Black Americans in the past and present. Notably, these analyses found Black American women, Black Americans who were 65 and older, and those who were ideologically moderate, liberal, and very liberal to be among those who most consistently believed that various U.S. systems were designed to hold Black people back. Likewise, Black American women, Black Americans with some college experience, and those who were ideologically “moderate,” “liberal,” and “very liberal” were amongst the groups to most consistently believe in the occurrence of a given conspiracy theory in the past or present in comparison to their various counterparts. These findings call for expanded research in efforts to more holistically understand these dynamics.

Author

• Johnita Cody, The Ohio State University