THE COST OF BEING BLACK: White Americans' Perceptions and the Question of Reparations

Abstract

White Americans have long resisted the idea of reparations to the descendants of slaves. We examine the psychological basis of such resistance, primarily testing the possibility that resistance may be a function of Whites' perception of the ongoing cost of being Black. White participants (n = 958) across twelve independent samples (varying in age, student status, and geographic location) were asked variations of the question: How much should you be paid to continue to live the remainder of your life as a Black person? Participants generally required low median amounts, less than $10,000, to make the race change, whereas they requested high amounts, $1,000,000, to give up television. To the extent that larger amounts were requested, support for reparations also increased. Attempts to educate participants about Black cost0White privilege had negligible effects on assessments of the cost of being Black and support for reparations. Together, these results suggest that White resistance to reparations for Black Americans stems from fundamental biases in estimating the true cost of being Black. The implications of our findings for color-blind and multiculturalist conceptual approaches are discussed.

Powerblindness

“…By contrast, most Whites in the experiment said they would demand $500,000 or more for giving up television for the rest of their lives. Variations on these scenarios yielded similar results (Mazzocco et al ).…”

Different shades of racial colorblindness: The role of prejudice

“…When asked to explain support for colorblindness, a given individual may cite a variety of justifications and rationales. We chose to focus on three specific rationales for racial colorblindness: (1) the idea that colorblindness protects the interests of racial minorities by reducing stereotyping and stigma (e.g., Knowles et al, 2009; Ryan et al, 2007), (2) the notion that colorblindness protects ingroup interests by defending against racial policies and practices perceived as harmful to Whites (e.g., Bonilla-Silva, 2003; Neville et al, 2000), and (3) the idea that racial categorization is no longer necessary due to prevailing racial equality (e.g., Bonilla-Silva, 2003; Mazzocco et al, 2006).…”

“…In other words, to the extent that race no longer matters, racial colorblindness becomes a more acceptable and valid racial ideology. Correspondingly, progressive racial policies are less likely to be deemed necessary to the extent that racial disparities are perceived to be minimal (e.g., Kluegel, 1985; Kluegel & Smith, 1983, 1986; Mazzocco et al, 2006; Tuch & Hughes, 1996). Whites lower in prejudice, given their predicted penchant for accuracy, were confidently predicted to base their affirmative action attitudes on this rationale.…”

More Eyes on the Prize: Variability in White Americans' Perceptions of Progress Toward Racial Equality

“…Having demonstrated variability in Whites' perceptions of racial progress, we conducted Study 2 to explore the extent to which this variability predicted reactions to a program whose explicit goal is to create racial equality. Beyond its intuitive appeal, empirical support for a relationship between perceptions of racial progress and reactions to AA comes from the Mazzocco et al (2006) findings described earlier and research demonstrating that non-Whites tend to be more supportive of AA programs than Whites (e.g., Haley & Sidanius, 2006). It is possible that non-Whites' support for AA programs is rooted in their perception that insufficient racial progress has been made and thus steps are needed to create equality in the future.…”

“…Suggestive evidence in support of this relationship was obtained recently using a nontraditional measure of perceptions of racial progress (Mazzocco et al, 2006). Using a "contingent validation paradigm," Mazzocco et al asked White participants how much money they would require to live as Black, an indicator they believed reflected the extent to which participants recognized (or failed to recognize) disparities between Blacks and Whites.…”