Whites broadly endorse racial equality in principle yet reject concrete equality policies

Evidence

Despite the successful passage of civil rights legislation in the United States securing basic political and human rights for African Americans and other ethnic minorities, despite the fact that blatant racism is no longer acceptable in public discourse and policy debates, and despite the fact that European Americans now broadly endorse general principles of racial equality, the fact is that whites generally oppose specific policies that promote equality in actual practice. This apparent contradiction in public opinion has become known as the principle-implementation gap. It has manifested itself in a number of areas, including opposition to busing to achieve racial integration in the schools, resistance to strong enforcement of anti-discrimination laws in housing and employment, and the widespread rejection of affirmative action policies. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2626

Categorization

• XREF: The principle-implementation gap parallels the reader’s interest in how professed values and actual behavior diverge, echoing themes from trust and social control work. — connects to: Most whites endorse new symbolic racism beliefs while rejecting old-fashioned racism — Christopher Tarman and David O. Sears, The Conceptualization and Measurement…, 41; Conservative strategists deliberately coded racial appeals to evade egalitarian norms — Rachel Wetts and Robb Willer, Who Is Called by the Dog Whistle?…, 3; Whites sustain equality-in-principle while delegitimizing redistributive measures as a coherent ideology — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology: Key Readings, 3339 (+2 more)
• SEED: The principle-implementation gap is an essay-worthy pattern: every egalitarian commitment quietly sabotaged in its implementation stage.
• corroborated: 3 independent passages support this claim — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2626