Ideological identity, not ignorance, drives whites’ wrong history answers
Evidence
And research suggests this isn’t just plain old ignorance, either. When scholars assess religious conservatives’ knowledge of many aspects of science (for example, atoms, lasers, viruses, or genes), they score well. It is only when they are asked about hotly contested culture-war topics (for example, evolution or the Big Bang) that they do poorly. This is why white Americans who more strongly affirm that America should be for “people like us” are more likely to answer questions about religion in America’s political history in a way that elevates the preeminence and alleged persecution of Christianity. Not only may they have learned erroneous religious history, but the ideology of white Christian nationalism may incline white Americans to reinterpret their history in ways that elevate their own group as heroes and victims. — Philip S. Gorski and Samuel L. Perry, The Flag and the Cross, 116
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: The Christian-nation founding story contradicts documented history; Racial dog whistles replaced explicit slurs after the civil rights movement — Philip S. Gorski and Samuel L. Perry, The Flag and the Cross: White Christian…, 89; Rural white MAGA support rests on a false line-cutting narrative — Philip S. Gorski and Samuel L. Perry, The Flag and the Cross: White Christian…, 33 (+3 more)
Broader Connections
- Denial of racial history erodes white Americans’ grasp of reality
#expands(0.85) — Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Begin Again, 183 - Racial attitudes, not ideology or values, drive whites’ opposition to race-targeted policies
#corroborates(0.82) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 3735 - Candidate-facing misattribution can explain why more whites report affirmative-action denial than is possible
#complicates(0.78)