Retracted: Lynchings, Racial Threat, and Whites’ Punitive Views Toward Blacks

Abstract

Disparities in historical and contemporary punishment of Blacks have been well documented. Racial threat has been proffered as a theoretical explanation for this phenomenon. In an effort to understand the factors that influence punishment and racial divides in America, we draw on racial threat theory and prior scholarship to test three hypotheses. First, Black punitive sentiment among Whites will be greater among those who reside in areas where lynching was more common. Second, heightened Black punitive sentiment among Whites in areas with more pronounced legacies of lynching will be partially mediated by Whites’ perceptions of Blacks’ criminality and of Black‐on‐White violence in these areas. Third, the impact of lynching on Black punitive sentiment will be amplified by Whites’ perceptions of Blacks as criminals and as threatening more generally. We find partial support for these hypotheses. The results indicate that lynchings are associated with punitive sentiment toward Black offenders, and these relationships are partially mediated by perceptions of Blacks as criminals and as threats to Whites. In addition, the effects of lynchings on Black punitiveness are amplified among White respondents who view Blacks as a threat to Whites. These results highlight the salience of historical context for understanding contemporary views about punishment.

Retracted: A Legacy of Lynchings: Perceived Black Criminal Threat Among Whites

“…Research on lynchings has emphasized the salience of lynchings for exemplifying and supporting a culture of racial animus and hostility toward blacks that exerts a persisting influence on race relations in contemporary America (DeFina and Hannon ; Durso and Jacobs ; Jacobs et al , ; King et al ; Messner et al ; Porter ; Porter et al ; Smângs ; Stewart et al ). Many studies in this tradition highlight the salience of racial threat for explaining how the racial animus exemplified by lynchings contributes to modern‐day whites' views about and reactions to blacks.…”

“…Research has emphasized more than a global perception of racial threat. It suggests that lynchings have contributed to views among whites that blacks present a potent criminal threat to society and, beyond that, a criminal threat specifically to whites (see, e.g., Durso and Jacobs ; King et al ; Stewart et al ). Not least, scholarship on lynchings and racial threat underscores the potential for threat mechanisms to be amplified by social context (see, generally, DeFina and Hannon ; Gabriel and Tolnay ; Jackson ; Jacobs et al ; Mears et al ; Welch et al ).…”

“…Please direct all correspondence to Daniel P. Mears, Florida State University, College of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 112 South Copeland Street, Eppes Hall, Tallahassee, FL 32306-1273;e-mail: dmears@fsu.edu. and hostility toward blacks that exerts a persisting influence on race relations in contemporary America (DeFina and Hannon 2011;Durso and Jacobs 2013;Jacobs et al 2005Jacobs et al , 2012King et al 2009;Messner et al 2005;Porter 2011;Porter et al 2014;Smângs 2016;Stewart et al 2018). Many studies in this tradition highlight the salience of racial threat for explaining how the racial animus exemplified by lynchings contributes to modern-day whites' views about and reactions to blacks.…”

We Shall Overcome: The Association Between Family of Origin Adversity, Coming to Terms, and Relationship Quality in African Americans

“…Furthermore, any attempt to resist the social order was met with violence (Wilkins et al, 2013) and thus began the lynching era. Lynching was perpetuated as Blacks were painted as criminals (Stewart, Mears, Warren, Baumer, & Arnio, 2018) and Whites justified lynching as "self-help" or a protective measure (Phillips, 1987, p. 363). Discrimination, violence, social powerlessness, low wages, high unemployment, high prison enrollment, and crime victimization are modern-day effects of this era in American history (Wilkins, et al, 2013).…”

Lynchings, racial threat, and whites’ punitive views toward blacks

“…In “Lynchings, racial threat, and whites’ punitive views toward Blacks” (Stewart, Mears, Warren, Baumer, & Arnio, ), a coding error led to misclassification of 11 counties and in turn resulted in an “ N ” of 90 rather than of 79 for the “southern” sample. The updated tables and figures rely on use of the correct sample of 79 counties and, by extension, inclusion of 1,301 individuals rather than of 1,441 individuals.…”