Etiquette-based political silence can conceal racist views from public scrutiny

Evidence

Political silence was not at all a principle of laziness or cowardice; it was considered a positive good. Avoiding the image that the town was racist was the same as avoiding racism, they thought. Was the mayor a racist? I heard a rumor that he would not let his daughter date anyone but whites. This style of treating politics could hide all sorts of viewpoints from public scrutiny; the volunteers’ civic etiquette could serve as a cover for racists, though it usually did not. From the outside, their silence made them all sound like potential racists to the outside world. — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics, 295

Categorization

• QUESTION: Does the difficulty of distinguishing silence-as-virtue from silence-as-cover mean the same civic practice can never separate inclusive from exclusionary motives?
• XREF: connects to: Political concern exists but is silenced by informal etiquette in group contexts. — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics: how Americans…, 97; External social norms may be the strongest cues suppressing prejudiced expression — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice: Fifty Years…, 2120; Anonymity removes the social inhibitions that normally suppress overt racial prejudice — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law: A Definitive Look at…, 269 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Multicultural gestures can publicly mask ongoing racist policies. #expands (0.80)
• An emergent social norm punishes accusations of racism, not racism itself #corroborates (0.80) — Cristian Tileagă, The Nature of Prejudice, 523
• External social norms may be the strongest cues suppressing prejudiced expression #corroborates (0.78) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 2120
• Political expression is switched on and off by group context rather than individual belief #expands (0.78) — Nina Eliasoph, “Close to home”, 97
• Anonymity removes the social inhibitions that normally suppress overt racial prejudice #corroborates (0.75) — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law, 269
• Political disengagement is socially produced in conversation, not just held in beliefs #expands (0.72) — Nina Eliasoph, “Close to home”, 30