Moderate white adults fear reparations would spark hate crimes and national division

Evidence

The concern that reparations might lead to retaliation against black Americans also came up. As one participant (white female, somewhat liberal Democrat, 35, noncollege, South) who started out at a 7 stated: “I am conflicted on what exactly this would look like for taxpayers. I also fear the negative effect this could have on the black community, like would this divide our nation more? Would hate crimes spike? Would people find ways to take advantage of this? Many pros and cons to weigh out on this topic.” However, strategic messaging about the many forms reparations could take finally broke through her resistance and shifted her outlook to a 2: “Yes, I was skeptical of what the reality of reparations would be exactly. But after reading more and more, I feel far more confident that reparations would be a great thing for our country, especially for our black neighborhoods/families. It would help everyone though, not just black Americans. I am hoping this would bridge the gap that is often forced between us. It would be so beautiful to see the same love and support white communities get, to be poured into our black communities as well.” — Dorothy A. Brown, Getting to Reparations, 503

Categorization

• QUESTION: Worth chasing: is there broader survey data on how common the ‘hate crimes spike / division’ fear is, versus the taxpayer framing?
• XREF: connects to: Framing reparations as a slippery slope serves white supremacy. — Dorothy A. Brown, Getting to Reparations: How Building a…, 550; Even sympathetic white audiences raise skeptical objections that defeat standard reparations messaging — Dorothy A. Brown, Getting to Reparations: How Building a…, 486; White fear of losing dominance drove punitive investments over reparative ones. — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project: A New American Origin…, 402 (+5 more)
• yield-rescued: below the book’s yield-target cutoff, included anyway for connecting to: Framing reparations as a slippery slope serves white supremacy. — Dorothy A. Brown, Getting to Reparations: How Building a…, 550; Even sympathetic white audiences raise skeptical objections that defeat standard reparations messaging — Dorothy A. Brown, Getting to Reparations: How Building a…, 486; White fear of losing dominance drove punitive investments over reparative ones. — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project: A New American Origin…, 402 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Framing reparations as a slippery slope serves white supremacy. #complicates (0.75) — Dorothy A. Brown, Getting to Reparations, 550