White Americans’ prejudice clashed with their own democratic and Christian values

Evidence

Allport’s analysis of intrapsychic conflict in The Nature of Prejudice owed a great deal to Gunnar Myrdal’s (1944) monumental work, An American Dilemma. Myrdal’s central theme was that most White Americans experience inner conflict over race because their prejudice conflicts with their equally deep-seated democratic and Christian values. The American Creed, in principle, spoke to the equality of all people, and especially to equal opportunity rather than to ascribed status hierarchies. — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 2159

Categorization

• XREF: The ‘American Creed’ tension echoes Sinclair’s The Jungle and Myrdal’s framing — connects to any work on cognitive dissonance between national founding ideals and systematic exclusion. — connects to: Systematic racial nativism openly repudiated democratic and Christian values — John Higham, Strangers in the Land: Patterns of…, 946; Parallel civic and church catechisms fused white supremacy onto Christian formation. — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long: The Legacy of White…, 364; White Citizens’ Council propaganda fused white supremacy, nationalism, and Christianity — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long: The Legacy of White…, 556 (+1 more)