Examining Black Americans' Levels of Belief in Anti-Black Systems & Conspiracies within the U.S.

• 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 remains an immense 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. Via the performance of linear regression analyses on a sample of 4,736 Black respondents featured in the 134th wave of Pew Research Center’s American Trends Panel (2023), 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 present-day occurrence of a variety of conspiracies targeting Black Americans. An “Anti-Black Systems” scale and an “Anti-Black Conspiracies” scale were created to measure these beliefs. Notably, these analyses found gender, education, and political ideology to be consistent predictors of Black Americans’ levels of belief in the notion that U.S. systems were designed to limit the advancement of Black people, as well as of their levels of belief in the occurrence of anti-Black conspiracies targeting the Black American population. In particular, Black American women across all levels of education and ideologically liberal Black Americans ranked the highest across both scales generally, and in comparison to their male and more conservative counterparts. Meanwhile, Black Americans who were 50 and older, Black Hispanics, Black immigrants, and Black Americans living in rural areas ranked lower across both scales compared to their respective counterparts. These findings call for increased scholarship in efforts to more holistically understand these dynamics.

Author

• Johnita Cody, The Ohio State University