Threat, Resentment or Stereotype? Examining The Temporality of Racialization Through Policy Preferences (1977-2024)

• In Event: Racial and Ethnic Minorities Section Roundtables Session
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Table Four: Racialized Politics and Activism within the United States and Latin America

Abstract

Racialization processes are inherently political processes, and scholars continue to find new ways to identify the political mediums through which racial groups struggle for power. These inquiries are particularly challenging in the “colorblind era” of politics, where power struggles are obscured by subtle forms of racism and individualistic racial norms. This paper locates the process of racialization within policy domains, each with their own established or emergent racial histories. I argue that a temporal analysis of racialization of policy domains is necessary because racialization occurs over time. I also argue that racialization of policy domains is multidimensional and insufficiently summarized a single axis of racial attitudes. Using the data from the 1977-2024 General Social Surveys (GSS), I examine the relationship between four types of racial attitudes and policy preferences across eleven domains over time. I find considerable variation in these relationships. Generally, the racialization of policy domains through traditional forms of racial attitudes has declined over time, while racialization through symbolic racism has remained consistent over time. Racialization of select policy domains is increasingly occurring through immigrant and racial threat perceptions in the last two decades.

Author

• Ronaldo Monasterio, Northwestern University