Symbolic Racism

Background

At the end of World War II, Blacks were still second-class citizens, denied the pursuit of the American dream in all spheres of lifesocially, economically, and politically. Since then, the Southern system of institutionalized Jim Crow segregation has been eliminated, as has most formal racial discrimination elsewhere. Old-fashioned racism, embodying beliefs in the biological inferiority of Blacks and support for formal discrimination and segregation, has greatly diminished and indeed has nearly disappeared from public discourse. However, Blacks continue to experience substantial disadvantages in most domains of life. Proponents of Blacks' interests have therefore continued to push for greater racial equality.

These efforts have often met with substantial White reaction, including the Republican Southern strategy of the 1960s, opposition to court-ordered busing in the 1970s and more recently to affirmative action, support for the use of Confederate symbols in state flags, opposition to Black political candidates, and, more indirectly, appeals for harsher crime and welfare policies.

Symbolic racism (also known as racial resentment) has been proposed as one explanation for Whites' political reactions, taking over the role once played by old-fashioned, or Jim Crow, racism. Symbolic racism centers around the belief that [Page 884]Blacks violate traditional U.S. values, especially individualism. Perceptions that Blacks violate other values (including, for example, morality, self-restraint, and family traditionalism) have been less studied but may be important for understanding the range of values invoked in symbolic racism.

The Current Theory

Symbolic racism is usually described as a coherent belief system expressed in terms of four specific themes: that Blacks no longer face much prejudice or discrimination, that Blacks' failure to progress results from their unwillingness to work hard enough, that Blacks make excessive demands, and that Blacks have gotten more than they deserve. It is typically measured in telephone or face-to-face surveys or with computer-based or paper-and-pencil questionnaires.

The theory of symbolic racism poses five central propositions:

• 1.
  Symbolic racism has largely replaced old-fashioned racism; only a tiny minority of Whites still accept the latter whereas they are about evenly divided about the beliefs contained in symbolic racism.
• 2.
  Symbolic racism now influences Whites' political attitudes much more strongly than does old-fashioned racism.
• 3.
  The origins of symbolic racism lie in a blend of early-acquired negative feelings about Blacks and traditional values.
• 4.
  Whites' opposition to racially targeted policies and Black candidates is more influenced by symbolic racism than by realistic threats posed by Blacks to Whites.
• 5.
  Symbolic racism has political effects independent of those of ostensibly racially neutral predispositions such as ideological conservatism.

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