Why Reparations? Race and Public Opinion Toward Reparations

During a period of rising partisan and racial polarization, how do partisanship, ideology, and racial antagonism influence attitudes toward reparations policies directed at the descendants of slaves? In this article, we use a wealth of public opinion data to examine trends in attitudes toward repara...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inRSF : Russell Sage Foundation journal of the social sciences Vol. 10; no. 3; pp. 30 - 48
Main Authors RHODES, JESSE H., NTETA, TATISHE M., HOPKINS, LILLIAUNA, WALL, GREGORY
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York Russell Sage Foundation 01.06.2024
Subjects
African Americans
Attitudes
Black Lives Matter movement
Black people
Conservatism
Descendants
Hostility
Ideology
III Opinions and Attitudes
Injustice
Partisanship
Polarization
Political activism
Political parties
Polls & surveys
Public opinion
Public opinion surveys
Race
Racial attitudes
Racial justice
Reparations
Slavery
Social justice
Trends
Wealth
United States > US
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Summary:During a period of rising partisan and racial polarization, how do partisanship, ideology, and racial antagonism influence attitudes toward reparations policies directed at the descendants of slaves? In this article, we use a wealth of public opinion data to examine trends in attitudes toward reparations and analyze the correlates of opposition to reparations proposals. We hypothesize that, given the ascendance over the past decade of a powerful racial justice movement and ensuing conservative backlash, racial attitudes should be particularly powerful in determining attitudes toward reparations. Using four original, nationally representative surveys, we show that negative racial attitudes play a central role in determining opposition to reparations, with effects that typically rival or exceed those of Republican partisanship or conservative ideology.
ISSN:2377-8253
2377-8261
DOI:10.7758/RSF.2024.10.3.02