Whites accept unequal outcomes for individuals but reject privileged access for racial groups

Evidence

Most White Americans comfortably accept such differences among individuals. For example, in one national survey, 93 percent agreed that “Some people are better at running things and should be allowed to do so,” and 85 percent that “Some people are just better cut out than others for important positions in society” (Sears et al., 2000, p. 93). Unequal life chances are simply accepted as the way of the world. But almost all Whites feel that imposing inequalities among groups is unacceptable. When these same questions were reworded to refer to racial groups rather than to individuals, only 14 percent agreed that “some Whites are better at running things than Blacks are and should be allowed to do so” and 8 percent that “some Whites are just better cut out than Blacks for important positions in society.” That is, a broad consensus of Whites repudiates privileged access for advantaged groups. — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 2182

Categorization

• SEED: Angle for essay: the 14%/93% gap reveals that even self-identified egalitarians accept group-based hierarchy denial — how meritocratic individualism masks structural inequality while allowing disavowal of it.
• XREF: connects to: White privilege manifests as invisible everyday advantages that sustain racial disparity — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt: International…, 425