Racial Ideology, Inequality Attitudes and Support for Compensatory Reparations: Evidence from a Nationally Representative Survey

• In Event: Economic Sociology Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Roundtable 12: Intersecting Inequalities

Abstract

Drawing on nationally representative survey data from the 2024 American Mosaic Project
(N=3,463), we examine how racial solidarity and attributions for racial inequality predict support
for reparations for Black Americans among White, Black, and Hispanic respondents. We find
that racial solidarity decreases reparations support among White Americans while increasing it
among racial minorities, though once attributions are included, solidarity remains significant
only for Black Americans. Structural attributions consistently and significantly increase
reparations support across all racial groups. Among White Americans, attributing racial
inequality to individual effort significantly reduces reparations support, but only when framed
around Black disadvantage rather than White advantage, suggesting that individualist ideology is
selectively activated by framing. Individual attributions have no significant effects among racial
minorities. These findings underscore the importance of racial ideology and framing in shaping
public attitudes toward reparative policies.

Authors

• Daniel Cueto-Villalobos, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities

• Lena Kunjan