Antiblack predispositions persist through slow socialization change
Evidence
Our own general perspective is that of symbolic politics theory. This theory assumes that socialization leaves individuals with strong, longstanding attitudinal predispositions, which can be evoked by appropriate political symbols (Sears, 1993). We assume that for several centuries white Americans have grown up in a socializing culture marked by widespread negative attitudes toward African Americans, a socializing culture that seems unlikely to have been abruptly overturned within the relatively few years since the end of Jim Crow. Presenting whites with racially targeted policies or black candidates should evoke that common antiblack element. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 3599
Categorization
- XREF: The claim that deep-seated dispositions formed over centuries cannot be overturned in decades resonates with the Frankfurt School material on long-term ‘anthropological reshaping’ of social character under fascism. — connects to: Longstanding antiblack socialization persists despite formal legal equality; Antiblack affect is a consistent, stable engine of symbolic racism across studies — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 3675; Moral damage from evildoing socialization persists and keeps individuals susceptible to future harmdoing
Broader Connections
- Longstanding antiblack socialization persists despite formal legal equality
#corroborates(0.95) - Antiblack affect is a consistent, stable engine of symbolic racism across studies
#expands(0.85) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 3675 - Moral damage from evildoing socialization persists and keeps individuals susceptible to future harmdoing
#expands(0.70)