Race, Prejudice and Support for Racial Justice Countermovements: The Case of “Blue Lives Matter”
In this article, we develop and test three propositions related to the status of a primary counterpoint of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement—“Blue Lives Matter” (BlueLM). Employing correlational and causal analyses on a wide array of data, including public opinion, news and social media, interne...
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Published in | Political behavior Vol. 46; no. 3; pp. 1491 - 1510 |
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Main Authors | , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
New York
Springer US
01.09.2024
Springer Nature B.V |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | In this article, we develop and test three propositions related to the status of a primary counterpoint of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement—“Blue Lives Matter” (BlueLM). Employing correlational and causal analyses on a wide array of data, including public opinion, news and social media, internet searches, and merchandise sales, our findings are threefold: first, we offer evidence that Whiteness is associated with attitudinal and behavioral indicators of support for BlueLM; second, we present evidence that support for BlueLM is systematically linked to White racial prejudice; and third, we demonstrate that BlueLM activity is caused by BLM protest following a high-profile police killing of a Black man, which comports with the conceptualization of BlueLM as engaging in a process of “competitive victimhood” against BLM. Together, these findings suggest that BlueLM is a new incarnation of an ongoing history of White countermobilization against organized Black claims-making activity. |
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ISSN: | 0190-9320 1573-6687 |
DOI: | 10.1007/s11109-023-09881-y |