Obama and the denial of White privilege
نویسندگان
چکیده
In the wake of Barack Obama’s presidential election, many wondered what his election indicates about the importance of race in the United States. In this paper, we explore whether a desire to protect the racial hierarchy motivated Whites to endorse the belief that Obama’s election means that race is no longer a problem. The results from two studies align with this possibility. Among Whites who are high in social dominance orientation (SDO) the more White privileged they perceived at the time of the 2008 Presidential election, the more they endorsed the belief that Obama’s election means that race is no longer a problem. However, this relationship only held when high SDO Whites were concerned that minority group members viewed the racial hierarchy as illegitimate. The findings suggest that beliefs about the meaning of Obama’s election may be strategically employed as a way of managing potential threats to—and ultimately preserving—the racial hierarchy.
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