For many Americans, the idea of racism is about individuals rather than a system of laws and policies that produce and reproduce racial inequality, known as structural racism. In new research, Leah Christiani, Nathan J. Kelly, and Jana Morgan examine what happens when white Americans are directly given information about structural racism in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. They find that when white Americans read about structural racism, they – especially Republicans – become more supportive of government policies to reduce racial inequalities in healthcare as well as for more general race-targeted policies.

Panic over supposed teaching of “critical race theory” and other “divisive concepts” in schools has exploded across the United States in recent years. While critical race theory is not actually taught in any widespread fashion outside of law schools, far-right activists have worked to make the term synonymous with teaching about race, racial inequality, and racial oppression.

To the extent that the moral panic over “critical race theory” has gained traction in the broader American public, opposition to conceiving of racism as a structural, rather than individual, phenomenon has likely played a role. Many Americans prefer to think of racism as originating from a few individual bad apples rather than a system of laws and policies that produce and reproduce racial inequality.

Information about structural racism and policy attitudes

Amidst this larger context, we wanted to know what happens when white Americans are confronted with information about structural racism directly. Does information about structural racism affect their other policy attitudes? Based on existing literature, we were unsure whether it would motivate increased support for – or opposition to – policies designed to tackle racial inequalities.

To answer this question, we conducted a survey experiment. Respondents were randomly assigned to read different news articles. Respondents in both groups read about the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of lives lost, and the initial efforts at vaccine distribution. However, the respondents in one group did not read anything about race (the control group), while the respondents in another read about racial disparities that emerged in the number of lives lost and in vaccine access (the ‘treatment’ group). The article explicitly noted that the barriers to vaccine access were not due to individual choice, but instead, structural factors that outside of COVID-19 and that resulted from “longstanding inequalities in American society.” The purpose here was to ensure that respondents were informed about the structural, rather than individual, nature of racial inequality.

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After reading the news story and reflecting on what they read in a short written response, respondents answered several questions that gauged their support for race-targeted public policies. These policies were about healthcare policy and extended beyond it, to other areas like taxes and schooling. Figure 1 shows the predicted agreement with the race-targeted policy, by treatment condition. For every policy area, reading the article about structural racism in the COVID-19 pandemic increased white respondents’ support for race-targeted policies intended to reduce such racial inequalities.

Figure 1 – Information about Structural Racism Leads to Increased Support for Race-Targeted Policies

Note: All differences statistically significant at the 95% confidence level or higher. White, non-Hispanic respondents who passed at least 1 attention check included. Dependent variables scaled 0-1 where higher values indicate greater support for egalitarian public policies.

Reading about racial inequality increases white Americans’ and Republicans’ support for race-targeted policies

When white Americans read about structural racism in the COVID-19 pandemic, they became more supportive of the notion that the government should work to reduce racial inequalities in healthcare. They also became more supportive of a policy that would guarantee access to vaccines for Black people in the US. This increased support for race-targeted policies in the healthcare domain spilled over to more general race-targeted policies as well – leading to increases in support for tax breaks for businesses that locate in Black neighborhoods, funding for majority-Black schools, and scholarships for Black students. These findings indicate that across the board, explaining the structural barriers that Black Americans face has the potential to motivate support among white Americans for policies designed to reduce such racial gaps.

Our work also finds some differences by party identification of the respondent. On variables relating to reducing racial inequalities, prioritizing Black Americans for vaccine access, and increasing funding for majority-Black schools, white Republicans were more likely to increase in their support of race-targeted policies in response to reading about racial disparities (compared to white Democrats). Based on a qualitative analysis of the written responses to those who read about racial disparities, we think that the likely mechanism is unfamiliarity with this information. Respondents who were particularly surprised by the way that structural racism led to racial disparities in the COVID-19 pandemic were also most likely to increase their desire to “do something” to address this problem. Due to the way that the media is siloed and polarized, Democrats (on average) may have exposure to framings of racism as structural while Republicans do not.

Our findings have important implications for policy messaging – indicating that framing racial inequality as structural may have the potential to motivate increased support for egalitarian policies. Further, they help us understand why opponents of racial equality are threatened by efforts to teach about structural inequalities – because learning about the structural nature of racism can expand support for public policies designed to undermine such inequality.

• This article is based on the paper, ‘American Dream versus American Reality: How Information about Structural Racism Can Prompt Support for Race-Based Policies’, in the Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics. 
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• Note: This article gives the views of the author, and not the position of USAPP – American Politics and Policy, nor the London School of Economics. 
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