Social Forces, University of North Carolina Press

The Racial Divide in Support for the Death Penalty: Does White Racism Matter? Author(s): James D. Unnever and Francis T. Cullen Reviewed work(s): Source: Social Forces, Vol. 85, No. 3 (Mar., 2007), pp. 1281-1301 Published by: Oxford University Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4494973 . Accessed: 31/10/2012 20:19
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The RacialDivide in Supportfor the Death Penalty: Does WhiteRacismMatter?

James D. Unnever, MississippiState University Francis T. Cullen, Universityof Cincinnati Using data from the 2000 National Election Study, this research investigatesthe sources of the racial divide in supportfor capital punishmentwith a specific focus on white racism.Afterdelineatinga measureof white racism,we explorewhetherit can accountfor why a majorityof AfricanAmericansoppose the death penalty while most whitessupportit. Theresultsindicatethat one-thirdof the racialdivide in support for the deathpenalty can be attributedto the influenceof our measureof white racism. The analysesalso revealedthat when otherfactors are controlled,supportfor capital punishment among nonracistwhites is similar to that of AfricanAmericans.Weexamine the implications of thesefindingsfor usingpublicopiniontojustifythe deathpenalty.

The politicsof the death penaltyprovidea lens for studyingrace relations within the UnitedStates. Because the death penaltyis the ultimateexpressionof state power, it is symbolicallyimportantfor both the AfricanAmericanand white communities(Garland 2001; Hacker1995). The applicationof lethal sanctions raises questions of equaljustice beforethe law and, in turn,of the legitimacyof the criminal is thus a policythatmayprovide justice process. Capital punishment an opportunity for racialconsensus or that may exacerbateracialconflict. Itis salientthat publicopinionpolls revealan extensiveracial dividein support for the death penalty.Forexample,the 2002 General SocialSurvey(GSS)shows that 73 percentof whites and 44 percentof African Americans supportthe death - a gap of 29 percentagepoints(Unnever forconvictedmurders andCullen penalty the 2007). Researchon why this cleavage exists has not been very illuminating: of fora rangeof knowncorrelates gap persistseven when controlsare introduced death penaltyattitudes,including and other class, views, political religion, gender variables and Baker andChamlin 2006; 1993;Cochran sociodemographic (Aguirre Unnever and Cullen and Unnever Cullen 2005; 2007). One potentialsource of the racialdivideis white racism.Analysesof national polls, such as the GSSand the NationalElectionStudy(NES),show thatamong animusis a strongpredictor forthe deathpenalty of support whites, racial (Aguirre and Baker1993; Barkan and Cohn 1994; Soss, Langbeinand Metelko 2003; see also, Bobo and Johnson 2004). Even so, largelydue to a methodological artifact,the extant research has not directlyexplored whether white racism is responsiblefor the racialdivide:the studies in this area have limitedtheir samples to white respondents. By contrast, in the currentresearch,we have developedan alternative strategyforassessing racistattitudesthatallowsforthe
Direct correspondence to JamesD. Unnever,Departmentof Sociology, MississippiState State,MS 39762. E-mail:james.unnever@msstate.edu. University, Mississippi
? The University of North Carolina Press Social Forces, Volume 85, Number 3, March 2007

1282 * SocialForces 2007 3 * March Volume 85,Number

retentionof African Americansin the analysis. Inturn,this approachopens up accountsfor the the possibility of assessing the degree to which racialprejudice The 2000 NES in of between and whites blacks support capitalpunishment. gap is used because it contains measures not only of racismbut also of prominent correlatesof death penaltyattitudes. Itcould be arguedthat white racismis no longera relevantissue at the turn the racialdividein for explaining of the 21st centuryand thereforeis immaterial and Rush Johnson, Feagin(2000)and supportfor capitalpunishment.However, (2003) contend that the systemic practicesof white racism Feaginand O'Brien have diminished little and that racist ideologies, prejudicesand stereotypes about AfricanAmericanscontinue to underliethe "everydayknowledge and social realityamong many whites." Such racism is often "rendered invisible" because it is so deeply embedded in social institutionsand the consciousness of individuals (Feagin,Veraand Batur2001). and institutional Feagin (2001:2) conceptualizes white racism "instructural as well as individual terms."(emphasis in the original) Feagin(2001:6) defines racismas the "complex of antiblack gained politicalpractices,the unjustly array economic power of whites, the continuing economic and other resource inequalitiesalong racial lines, and the white racist ideologies and attitudes for created to maintainand rationalize white privilegeand power."Important our purposes, scholars now commonlydistinguishtwo distinct manifestations of racism: "JimCrow" racism and symbolic racism. Research reveals that Americans- has to African "Jim Crow"racism- equating biologicalinferiority 1997; declined steadily since the 1940s (Bobo and Kluegel1993; Bonilla-Silva and Kosterman Carrillo 1997; Virtanen Sears and Henry2003; Sears, VanLaar, dividein publicsupport and Huddy1998).However, thatthe racial it is instructive for capitalpunishmenthas persisted even though whites no longertenaciously believe in the racialinferiority of AfricanAmericans.Scholars have discerned that a new formof racismhas emerged that may formthe basis of supportfor crime-related policies such as the death penalty. "conservative" Kinderand Sanders (1996) define this new form of racism as "racial resentment." They argue that this new form of racism emerged just as overt racialbarriers,such as poll taxes and segregated schools, were being dismantled. In the absence of these impediments, raciallyinsensitive whites were now redirectingtheir animosity to whether AfricanAmericans would take advantage of being in what they perceived to be a color-blindsociety. or as the Otherscholars have labeled this new form of racism as "symbolic" perspective"and characterizeit as being more subtle than "cultural-deficiency the older,more explicitforms of racism(Bobo 1997; Feaginand O'Brien 2003; Sears et al. 1997). Regardlessof the label, researchersagree that this form of to help racismis manifestedin the belief that African Americansare "unwilling
themselves" and therefore are undeserving of government assistance (Sears and Henry 2003; Virtanen and Huddy 1998). In short, racial resentment is a "combination of racial anger and indignation, on the one hand, and secularized versions of the Protestant ethic, on the other." (Kinderand Sanders 1996:294)

Does White RacismMatter? * 1283

In the present analysis, we created two scales that measure new and old forms of racism and investigate whether they predict public opinion about support for the death penalty. The analysis includes a racial resentment scale similarto the one proposed by Kinder and Sanders (1996) and a racial and Cohn1994; Borg 1997)that measuresthe degree stereotype scale (Barkan to whichAmericansperceiveAfrican Americansas being unintelligent, lazyand Thislatterscale measures old fashioned,traditional orJim Crow untrustworthy. racism(Bobo 1997; Bobo and Kluegel1993; Sears et al. 1997). Borg(1997)and Barkan and Cohn(1994), using GSS data, found that a racialstereotype scale predictedwhite supportforthe death penalty;however,its effect was less than a scale measuringracialintolerance. Inthis context, the currentprojectemploys the followingresearchstrategy. First Americans thanwhites to strongly are less likely exploredis whetherAfrican supportthe death penalty.Second, after establishinga directeffect of race on attitudes, we examine whether the independentvariablesmediate the direct effect of race on publicsupportfor capitalpunishment.Third, after controlling forthe independent the relationship between publicsupportfor capital variables, the degree to punishmentand Jim Crowand symbolicracismis tested. Fourth, which white racismaccounts for the racialdivide in publicsupportfor capital punishmentis considered.To do so, we constructeda new measure of white racismand includedit in the regressionequationthat predictssupportfor the death penaltywhile holdingconstant the effects of our independentvariables. To determinethe degree to which this measure accounts for the racialdivide in supportfor capitalpunishment,the decrease in the size of the direct effect of race on publicsupportfor the death penaltyis assessed. The last analysis, which is exploratory, between ourmeasure investigateswhetherthe relationship of white racismand supportfor the death penaltyvariesacross the independent variables.The intentof this latteranalysisis to revealpossible explanations for racist whites be more to the death why may likely support penalty. White Racism and Support for the Death Penalty There is no systematic theory of why white racismfosters supportfor capital the existingliterature However, punishment. suggests thatthreefactors- whether - are likelyimplicatedin this firmlinkage.These include alone or in interaction racial threat,racialstereotypes and racialresentment. conflicttheoryand the racial First, threathypothesisproposethatthe criminal justice system is used by whites to subordinateminorities groups (Jacobs and Carmichael 2002; Wacquant 2001) andthatwhites haveconstructedan ideology that justifies this injustice (Hagan, Shedd and Payne 2005). In this context, whites mightsee the death penaltyas a much-neededsanctionthat prejudiced the criminal justice system can use to suppress the behaviorof "dangerous"
minorities (see also, Bobo and Johnson 2004). Second and related, prejudiced whites are likely to hold distorted stereotypes that lead them to assume that most violent criminals, including those on death row, are AfricanAmerican (see Chiricos,Welch and Getz 2004; Feagin and O'Brien2003; Young 1985). Thus, racist whites may assume that, in practice, lethal penalties are applied overwhelmingly to AfricanAmericans, not whites.

1284 * SocialForces 3 * March 2007 Volume 85,Number

arecriminally Americans whiteracistsmaybelievethatAfrican Third, dangerous to whites. The not available resulting despite being given special advantages and not "society's racialangerand the attribution that blackcrimeis "their fault" Americanmurderers to fault"may furtherjustifythe view that puttingAfrican death is both richlydeserved and needed for communityprotection.Notably, of crime causation. (2003) sketch a white elite explanation Feaginand O'Brien the disproportionate Ingeneral,they arguethat prejudiced white elites attribute rate of crime among AfricanAmericansto culturaldeficiencies while either and consequences of white or discounting the systemic manifestations ignoring racism.Itis instructive that Feaginand O'Brien (2003)show thatwhites no longer crimebutfocus American includeracialinferiority intheirexplanations of African familiesand communities. on variouscultural deficienciessuch as disorganized These beliefs may persist and be influential because they have, typicallyin a more masked form, been espoused for politicaladvantage by conservative politicalelites. These elites have both identifiedcrimewith race and vigorously (Beckett capitalpunishment supportedget-toughcrimecontrolpolicies,including and Sasson 2000; Miller 1996; Tonry 1995). orsymbolic resentment TheNESdataset limitsanalysisof whiteracism to racial racism (and Jim Crow racism).We would predict, however,that race-based resentment,sentiments of threatand stereotypes are interrelated components of the constructof white racism.If this thesis is correct,then our findingswill providegrounds for furtherelaborationsand tests of how the dimensions of white racisminfluencesupportfor capitalpunishment.

Methods Sample
The 2000 NESuses probability voting-agepopulation samples of the American residingin housing units in the coterminous48 states. The NESentaileda 68The dependent minute pre-electionand 64-minute post-election re-interview. variablewas only asked on the post-electionstudy. Altogether,1,555 persons Theweighted samplewas used. provided post-electioninterviews. Dependent Variables The dependent variablemeasures the degree to which respondents supported the death penalty.Itwas constructed from a summarymeasure. Respondents were first asked the following question. "Do you favor or oppose the death penalty for persons convicted of murder?"Two responses were offered, or "oppose."Respondents were then probed based on their response "favor" to the first question. Specifically,they were either asked "Do you favor the
death penalty for persons convicted of murder strongly or not strongly?" or "Do you oppose the death penalty for persons convicted of murder strongly or not strongly?" The responses to these questions were used to construct a summary measure (V000752). Respondents who answered "don't know" were deleted from the summary measure.

Does White RacismMatter? * 1285

Independent Variables Independentvariablescontrolfor factors that could possibly account for the relationshipbetween race, racism and public support for the death penalty. AppendixA presents the items used to construct the scales included in the analyses and theiralphacoefficients. Jim Crow A scale was constructed similarto previous research to measure what has been referredto as Jim Crow racism by summing across the responses to three questions with higher values indicatinggreater racial animosity (e.g., Borg 1997; Sears and Henry2003). Racism Symbolic The NEScontainsquestions that allowfor the formulation of a symbolicracism scale similarto those developed by previous researchers (Bobo and Kluegel 1993; Borg 1997; Kinderand Sanders 1996; Kinderand Winter2001; Sears and Henry2003; Young2004). This scale was constructed by summingacross the responses to four questions. Responses to these questions included "agree strongly,""agree somewhat," "neitheragree nor disagree," "disagree somewhat" or "disagreestrongly." The responses were coded so that higher values indicategreaterracialanimus. WhiteRacism The issue of how to measurewhite racismis complexand one that has, to our and Cohn2005b). knowledge,not been settled by previousscholars(see Barkan We considered using multiplemeasures of white racism and exploredthese alternative measuresand theirinfluenceon the racial divide(see footnotes 5 and it is ourpositionthatthe issue of white racismshouldbe "seen" from 6). However, the perspectiveof African to use an Afrocentric Americans. Thus,it is reasonable definition of white racism.Ourmeasuredefineswhite racistsas those whiteswho scoredabovethe African American meanon the symbolicracistscale.Whiteracists were so designatedif they viewed African with more racialanimosity Americans thanthe averageAfrican American heldfor his or herown race. It could be argued that we should use another mean, such as the white mean, or thatwe shoulduse a standard deviationscore that is abovethe African Americanmean. It also could be arguedthat we should delete any white who gave a prejudicedresponse on any of the items used to measure racism- a methodused by Barkan and Cohn(2005b).These alternative measures,however, are problematic.Deletingevery white who gave a prejudicedresponse is too restrictive andignoresthe reality thatthereis variation amongwhites inthe degree to whichthey holdracistattitudes.Further, such definitions, usingotherempirical
as the white mean, inherently condones a certain level of racism that exceeds how average AfricanAmericans view their own race. The AfricanAmerican mean on the symbolic racism scale is 10.81 (s.d. = 3.3). Twenty-eight percent of the respondents scored below the African American

2007 1286e SocialForces Volume 3 * March 85,Number

mean on the symbolic racism scale. In comparison, the populationmean African Americansand whites) was 13.67 (s.d. = 3.85) and the white (including mean was 14.05 (s.d. = 3.76). The scores for the scale rangefrom4 to 20. We recognizethat the intensityof white racismvariesamong whites who exceeded the measureof white racism the baseline- the African American mean.Therefore, the utilizedincludesa baseline,which is set to zero, and 10 intervalsindicating mean on the American level of racismamong whites that exceeded the African and whites Americans symbolicracismscale. Thezero categoryincludesAfrican scale. The racism mean on the symbolic who scored below the African American the true measure is conservativein the sense that it most likelyunderestimates level of racism among white Americans.Feaginand O'Brien (2003) argue that racist beliefs are more likelyto be expressed in privatesettings and, therefore, thatsurveys- whicharegenerally conductedin publicplaces- willunderestimate the white respondents'true level of racistbeliefs. Americanrespondents This measurementstrategymeans that some African are categorizedas racist because they express racialanimustowardtheirown race.1,2 Indeed,sociologicalminorities expressinganimustowardtheirown group is an emerging research interest. Forexample, althoughscholars have found that, on average,women have less sexist attitudesthan men, membersof both sexes may harborambivalenceand hostilitytoward women (e.g., Russell and as mightbe recalled,to avoidany possibilityof conflating Trig2004).3 However, animus racial who harbored Americans this sentimentwithwhite racism,African towardtheirown race were placed in the zero category.This is a conservative Americans approachbecause, as withwhite respondentsin ourdataset, African to supportthe death penalty. who expressed such animusare more likely Egalitarianism Kinder and Winter(2001)arguethat nationalpolicies are supportedor opposed based on the degree to which they enhance or violate valued principles. - a matter of principlewe investigate whether egalitarianism Accordingly, Toconstructa scale measuring predictspublicopinionaboutthe death penalty. egalitarianism,six questions included in the 2000 NES were used, similar to those employed by previous researchers (Brewer 2003; Feldman 1988; Feldmanand Steenbergen 2001; Kinder and Winter2001). Afterrecodingthree of the questions, we summed across the responses (stronglyagree to strongly with higher values indicatinga disagree) to create a scale, Egalitarianism, beliefs. strongerendorsement of egalitarian Religiosity Scholars have made a considerableeffort to understandwhether theological beliefs and practices influence punitivemeasures (Unneverand Cullen2006;
Unnever, Cullen and Bartkowski 2006; Unnever, Cullen and Fisher 2005). In general, the extant research has generated inconsistent findings, with some research showing that conservative theological beliefs influence punitiveness and other research showing no effect. (Fora review of this literature,see Unnever and Cullen 2006.) To control for the potential effect that religiosity may have on

* 1287 DoesWhiteRacism Matter?

ouranalysis,a scale of Religiosity was createdby summingacross the responses to three questionswith highervalues indicating greaterreligiosity. PoliticalOrientation A single item measurespolitical Conservative Political (scale of 1-7,with ideology, the maximum which is similar to one categorydenoting"strongconservatives"), deathpenaltyresearch. on support Theextantresearch for extensivelyused inprior has consistentlyfoundthatindividuals who holdconservative capitalpunishment views are more likely to endorse capitalpunishment political (Applegate,Cullen, Fisherand VanderVen 2000; Borg 1997; Jacobs and Carmichael 2004; Nice 1992; Stack 2000, 2003; Unneverand Cullen2005; Unnever, Cullenand Fisher Cullenand Roberts2005; Young1992, 2004). 2005; Unnever, Authoritarianism Sears et al. (1997) and Stack (2003) have argued that authoritarianism shapes public support for national policies. Therefore,to isolate the effect of the measure of white racism on supportfor capital punishment,individual levels of authoritarianism are controlledusing the authoritarianism scale constructed by Sears et al. (1997). This scale includes four questions with highervalues indicatinggreaterauthoritarianism. Trustin Government Researchershavearguedthatpolitical distrustis deeplyembedded inthe current and that it has causal American politicalclimate, primacyin explaining support for racial policy preferences (Hetheringtonand Globetti 2002). In addition, scholars have arguedthat distrustof governmentis an integralcomponentfor the deathpenalty issues, including publicsupportforcrime-related understanding and Rosenfeld2006; Tonry (Messner,Baumer 1999;Zimring 2003).Tocontrolfor its possible influence,this researchutilizesthe scale used by Hetherington and Trust. values on the Government Trust scale Globetti(2002),Government Higher indicatethat respondentswere moretrustfulof the government. Class Two measures of class are includedin the analysis:the respondent'sincome, Income, and whetherthe respondentwas working,Working. Traditional FamilyTies and Boeckmann Tyler (1997)investigatedpublicsupportforthe 1994-1995"threestrikes-andinitiative in California and foundthat publicpunitiveness you're-out" was relatedto a generalsense that the moraland social consensus that holds society togetherwas declining.Based on theirresearch,we includea single item
to measure the degree to which respondents believe in traditional family ties. The Family Ties measure is taken from responses to the following statement: "This country would have many fewer problems if there were more emphasis on traditionalfamily ties." Responses ranged from "agree strongly" to "disagree strongly."We reverse coded the responses so that closer family ties indicate that

2007 Volume 3 * March 1288 * SocialForces 85,Number

the respondentsbelieve that, if there were more emphasis on traditional family there would be fewer ties, problems. of CrimeRates Perceptions Sprott(1999) found that adults who believed that crime was increasingwere more likely to believethat adultcourtsentences were too lenient.Thus,a single item, CrimeRates, is includedto controlfor a respondent's perceptionof the crime rate based on the followingquestion. "Would you say that comparedto 1992 the nation'scrime rate has gotten better,gotten worse, or stayed about the same?" Highervalues indicate that respondents believed that the crime rate had gotten "muchworse." It is noteworthythat 30 percent of Americans believed that the crime rate from 1992 to 2000 was either somewhat or much worse, even though the crime rate had actually fallen to near record lows 2000; Tonry, 1999). (Blumsteinand Wallman MediaInfluence Researchindicatesthat the media has a significantrole in creatingperceptions and a punitiveideology (e.g., Chiricosand of crime, the fear of victimization Eschholz 2002; Chiricos, Padgett and Gertz 2000). Thus, a scale, Media Influence,is included,based on four questions measuringthe degree to which news. the respondentswatched and paidattentionto localand national Standarddemographicmeasures are also recorded:the respondent's age American= 1, white = 0) (respondentsother than blacks (Age), Race (African and whites were deleted), Sex (Male = 1), educationalattainment(Education), andwhetherthe respondent whetherthe respondentresidedinthe south(South), livedin an urbanarea(Urban). Analytical Strategy We used ordinary least squaresto presentourresults.4 Missingdataon the income measure were assigned the mean value. In the followingtables, standardized regressioncoefficients(B),in regressioncoefficients(Betas)and unstandardized parenthesesare presented.Cases were deleted if they had missing data on any of the variablesincludedin the analyses. The listwise deletion of missing data resultedina weightedsampleof 1,146respondents.Noexcessive multicollinearity was 1.64. was detected. The largestvarianceinflation factor(VIF)

Results
less The analysisfirst examinedwhether African Americanswere significantly 1 1 of Table Model to the death than whites. regressedpublic likely support penalty forthe deathpenalty on race.Theresultsshow,as expected,thattherewas support
a significant relationship between race and public support for the death penalty, with AfricanAmericans less likelythan whites to support capital punishment. In Model 2 of Table 1, independent variables, minus our racism measures, were entered into the regression equation. Results show that this step reduced the magnitude of the race coefficient by only 2 percent.

Does White Racism Matter? * 1289

of Racism Table 1:Analysis of theRacial in Support Punishment Divide forCapital byMeasures

Variables African American Age Gender = 1) (male Education South Urban Religiosity Political Conservative
Authoritarianism

Model 1 -.18*** (-.60)

2 Model -.18*** (-.59) -.09** (-.00) -.02 (-.00) -.05

(-.04)

3 Model -.13*** (-.43) -.09** (-.00) -.01 (.04) -.02

(-.01)

4 Model -.11** (-.36) -.09** (-.00) -.01 (-.04) -.03

(-.01)

.06* (.14) .07* (.23) -.17*** .08** (.04)

.11***

.05 (.11) .08** (.27) -.16***

(-.05)

.05 (.12) .08** (.27) -.17***

(-.05)

(-.05)

.07** (.04)
.09"**

.07** (.04)
.10***

Government Trust Income Working Crime Rates Ties Family Egalitarianism

Media Influence JimCrow Racism Racism Symbolic

(.09) .01 (.00) .05 (.02) -.01

(-.02)

(.08) .02 (.00) .04 (.01) -.01

(-.04)

(.08) .02 (.01) .04 (.02) -.01

(-.04)

.08** (.08) .07**

.06* (.06) .05

.05** (.07) .05*

(.08)
-.13***
(-.03) .12***

-.05

(.06)
.11***

(.06)
-.07**
(-.01) .11***

(-.01)

(.01)
-

(.01)
-.00

(.01)
-

(-.00)
.20***

White Racism
R2

(.06) .03*** .13"** .16***

.17*** (.05)
.15***

Notes: n = 1117 ***

***p<.001 **p < .01 *p < .05 Standardized estimatesin parentheses. regressioncoefficientswith unstandardized

2007 3 * March Volume 1290 * SocialForces 85,Number

The next analysis had two purposes. First, it assessed whether the two measures of racism, Jim Crow and symbolic racism, were associated with supportfor the death penalty.Second, it assessed the degree to which these dividein supportfor capital of racismaccountedforthe racial two manifestations of racism were entered measures In these Model 3 of Table 1, punishment. extant research(e.g., the with along with our independentvariables.Consistent to failed predict significantly Borg 1997),the resultsshow that Jim Crowracism Also consistentwiththe past research(Borg publicsupportforthe death penalty. 1997),the resultsindicatedthat symbolicracismpositivelypredictedthe degree to which Americanssupported capital punishment.Indeed, the standardized regressioncoefficientsindicatethatthe symbolicracismmeasurewas the most of the strengthof supportfor the death penalty. robustpredictor the two The results from Model3 of Table1 furtherindicatedthat including divideinsupport the racial measuresof racisminthe regressionequationmodified the race regressioncoefficientin Model3 to for capitalpunishment.Comparing the one in Model 2 shows that the racialdividein publicsupportfor the death the racismmeasures. penaltywas reducedby 28 percentafterincluding In Model4 of Table1, we deleted the measures of Jim Crowand symbolic racismand includedourmeasureof white racism.Resultsindicatethatthe white racismmeasure positivelypredictedthe degree to which Americanssupported regressioncoefficients show that capitalpunishment.Indeed,the standardized of the degree the white racismmeasurewas one of the most robustpredictors death the to whichAmericans penalty. supported The question remains as to whether the measure of white racism that we constructedcan account for the racialdivide in publicsupportfor capital Resultsfrom models 2 and 4 revealthat the magnitudeof the race punishment. the white racismmeasurein reducedafterincluding coefficientwas substantially the regressionequation.The racialdividein publicsupportfor the death penalty the whiteracismmeasure.These results was reducedby39 percentafterincluding dividein publicsupportfor capital than the racial that more a third of suggest of white racistattitudes.5 influence undue can be attributed to the punishment whites between nonracist exists racial divide We also investigatedwhethera the above who scored whites In Americans. and African a separate analysis, the and deleted were scale racism AfricanAmericanmean on the symbolic This re-estimated. was Table 1 regression equation presented in Model 2 of andwhites. Resultsshowed thatthe race 316 African Americans analysisincluded coefficientdid not significantly predictthe level of supportfor the death penalty. whites share and nonracist Americans Thisnullrelationship suggests thatAfrican else being equal.6 similar everything opinionsaboutcapitalpunishment, to supportcapital Thefinalanalysisexplored whywhite racistswere morelikely punishmentthan nonracistwhites and AfricanAmericans.To detect possible reasons for their stronger support, we investigatedwhether the relationship
between the white racism measure and public support for the death penalty varied across the independent variables. These analyses yielded two interaction terms that significantly predicted support for capital punishment, White Racism x Religiosity and White Racism x Egalitarianism. To uncover the substantive

Does White Racism Matter? * 1291

effects, the samplewas splitintothose who were or meaningof these interaction were not racist,andthe regressionequationpresentedin Model2 of Table1 was re-estimated. The relationship and publicsupportfor capital between religiosity was found to be punishment (beta = -.33 substantively greateramong nonracists than = those who were racists(beta = -.13 p = .000). The results also p .000) foundthatthe relationship forthe death betweenegalitarianism andpublic support penaltywas nonsignificant among those who held racistbeliefs (beta = -.04 p.= .21) butwas significant (beta = .16 p = .01).Thus,the findings among nonracists indicatethat religiosity and egalitarianism matteredless when racistsconsidered the degree to which they supportedthe death penalty.On the other hand,the interactioneffects indicated that religiosityand egalitarianismsubstantively affected the level of supportfor capitalpunishment among nonracists. Discussion The use and legitimacyof capitalpunishmentis inextricably entwinedwith race inthe UnitedStates. ManyhavequestionedwhetherAfrican are more Americans than whites to be sentenced to die and executed likely (e.g., Langbein1999; Radelet1981).Scholarshave also begun to examinewhether publicsupportfor is infusedwiththe dynamicsof racial conflict.Inthis context, capitalpunishment we attemptedto advancethis existingresearchby examining morefullythe size and sources of this seeminglyenduringracialdividein publicsupportfor capital punishment.Most salient,we exploredthe rolethatwhite racismhas in creating the chasm in publicopinionabout the death penalty. The analysissuggests five considerations that warrant further attention. First,the most robust predictorof the degree to which Americanssupport the death penalty is our measure of white racism. We found that the more respondents believe African Americans are "irresponsible"or "culturally deficient" (Feagin and O'Brien2003), the more likely they are to support executing convicted murderers.The analysis also provides tentative insights into why individuals with these attitudes are more likelyto supportthe death Americans.The impactof religiosity penaltythan nonracistwhites and African is less strong among those with racist attitudes, and these individuals do not consider whether the United States is an egalitariansociety when forming opinionsaboutthe death penalty.Onthe other hand,among those who did not harborracialanimus, religiosityand egalitarianism has a substantiveimpacton theiropinionsabout capitalpunishment.7 Beyond these data, however, more research is needed to illuminatewhy racialanimus- in particular symbolicracism- is relatedto supportforthe death It is for penalty. possible, example, that symbolicallyracist whites wrongly believe that their gains were achieved throughtheir individual effort in a truly color blindsociety. Additionally, symbolic racist whites might be more prone
to believe that the poverty that disproportionately affects African Americans is the result of blacks' unwillingness to work as hard as they have. Their denial of white privilege, an aspect of white racism (Feagin 2001; Sears and Jessor 1996), coupled with feelings of racial animosity, may generate a heightened frustration with African Americans, in general, and particularlytoward those

1292 * SocialForces Volume 3 e March 2007 85,Number

AfricanAmericanswho flagrantly take advantageof opportunitiesthat whites believe have been "given" to them. Thus, it is not surprisingthat the death penalty takes on such symbolic in the UnitedStates. Itis the vessel that containsthe frustration and importance anger symbolic white racists have toward AfricanAmericans.These emotive forces percolatedduringthe race riots of the 1960s and were intensifiedduring the 1980s as the picturesof WillieHorton flashed across the nation'stelevision sets (Chiricos and Eschholz2002; Kinder and Sanders 1996; Mendelberg1997; Neubeck and Cazenave2001). Adding to this combustible mix were whites scapegoating AfricanAmericans for their downward mobility as 5 million families headed by white males were added to the povertyrollsfrom 1979 to 1983 (Staples 1987). It is likelythat these events cemented and legitimatedthe Americansare prone racistwhites that African perceptionamong symbolically to criminal and Eschholz African Americanmales (Chiricos behavior, particularly Welch and Getz 2004; Wacquant2001; Young1985).Thus,the 2002; Chiricos, African American animusthatsymbolic death rowinmateencapsulatesthe racial white racistshaveforthose African floutthe believe Americans intentionally they ethos of hardworkby tryingto profitthroughmurder. this discussion of why racismis relatedto supportfor the death Admittedly, is penalty speculative.Moredefinitive studydesigns thatare insightswillrequire race-sensitive. This mightincludemore detailedmeasures both of components of symbolic racism(e.g., anger towardAfrican Americans,threatfrom African of capitalpunishment of of and the Americans, stereotypes offenders) application of the Americans death vs. African to white offenders). (e.g., application penalty At present, the extant knowledgeis restrictedbecause majorpollingagencies, such as the Gallup Organization, largelyavoidthe issue of racismwhen probing Americans and Cullen2005). why (Unnever supportcapitalpunishment Second, consistent with previous research (Cochranand Chamlin2006; Unneverand Cullen2007), we reporta clear racialdivide in publicsupportfor the death penalty,with whites more likelyto supportcapitalpunishment.This racial cleavage does not appear to be a product of economic, educational, Americansand whites. These religiousor politicaldifferences between African differences decreased the racialdivide in support for capital punishment by however, the analysis reveals that a substantial only 2 percent. Importantly, - can be attributed of the racialdivide- more than one-third to the proportion undue influenceof white racism. it is instructive thatthe racial divideis notfullyexplainedbywhite racism. Third, Even after controllingfor such racism, the racialdivide, though substantively Americanshave unique attenuated,persists. These results suggest that African experiences that contributeto their lower supportof the state's use of capital Inthis regard, Unnever Americans andCullen 2007 arguethatAfrican punishment.
may have a distinct history with the death penalty. This history includes both the epidemic of lynching AfricanAmericans throughout the South in the early 1900s and the discriminatory use of capital punishment against African Americans for a range of crimes (e.g., rape) (Clarke 1998; Lofquist 2002; Tolnay,Beck and Massey 1992; Tolnay,Deane and Beck 1996). They further argue that this history

* 1293 DoesWhiteRacism Matter?

informsAfrican Americans'present reluctanceto embrace capitalpunishment the at same levels as whites (cf., Messner et al. 2006). It is also noteworthy that Unneverand Cullen2007 found that manyof the social forces that should lessen the dividebetween African Americansand whites - such as politicaland religious beliefs - either have a negligible impact or actuallyfurtherintensify their differences in opinions about the death penalty. Thus, these results, combined with those presented here, suggest that the racialdividein support for the death penaltymay resultboth fromthe undue influenceof white racism and from the enduringimpact of the historicaluse of lethal violence against African Americans. the results the United States maybe a nation divided Fourth, withinrace.Clearly, of the current studyand those of others(Soss et al. 2003) suggest thatthere are divisionsin supportfor the death penaltyamong whites. Nonracistswhites are less likelyto supportcapitalpunishment and than racistwhites. Indeed,Barkan Cohn(2005b)report that onlya slim majority of nonracistswhites - 56.5 percent - supportthe death penalty. in the NESdata, it is possible to calculate, Similarly, racial the to which beliefs, by degree respondents stronglysupportedcapital 63 percentof whites who scored above the African American mean punishment: on the symbolic racism scale stronglysupportedthe death penalty,whereas, whites stronglysupportedcapitalpunishment. only43 percentof nonracist Fifthand finally,it is clear that capital punishmentcannot be considered as a race-neutral involved public policy because white racism is inextricably in differential it be for death the Thus, public support might time to penalty. that when the death penalty for their recognize legislators justify support because they are representing the "willof the people,"these pronouncements ignore a discomfortingreality:that strong or high levels of supportfor capital are largelyrootedin the views of thatsegment of the publicholding punishment racist views toward AfricanAmericans.Further, Mallicoatand Radelet (2004) note that the SupremeCourthas, on numerousoccasions, used publicopinion standardsof decency"argument(e.g., polls as a way to measurethe "evolving Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S.238, 1972),andthatthe Courthas recentlyindicated a new willingnessto consider data generated from publicopinionpolls when of variousaspects of capital punishment.In determiningthe constitutionality of these it will light developments, perhapsgive juristsreason to pause when learn that racismis likely of capital a key ingredient inthe public'sdefinition they punishmentas meeting a standardof decency.

Notes
1. Notably, Americansis distinct scholars argue that prejudice among African from the prejudicedviews whites have about AfricanAmericans.WattsJones (2002:592)states that "Peopleof African descent may be prejudiced, but not racistvis-a-visthose of Europeandescent. We have no collective or of wieldinginstitutional power historyof proclaiming Europeansinferior, to subjugatethem."

1294 * SocialForces Volume 3 * March 2007 85,Number

and whites forthe 2. We createdfrequencydistributions Americans forAfrican whites who scored and Americans racism scale. were African There symbolic animustowardAfrican inthe highestcategory(n = 20) indicating strongracial Americans. the two groupsdifferedinthatonly 1 percentof African However, Americansscored in the highest category,in comparisonto 7.6 percentof of indicatethat the majority whites. In general,the frequencydistributions whereas the African Americans score below the 12th interval (54.1 percent), and that the of whites (56.9 percent)score above the 13th interval majority that indicatesstrong greatest disparitiesoccur at the tail of the distribution racialresentments. sexist attitudes 3. Morespecifically, researchshows that women who harbor are more likelyto believe in rape and sexual harassmentmyths, are less tolerantof women who go beyondthe confines of their prescribedgender violence (Cowan 2000; role, and are more likelyto accept interpersonal Lonsway and Fitzgerald1995; Russell and Trig2004). Researchers and practitionersrecognize that this expression of "false consciousness" or internalized racism-sexism can be overcomeif oppressed minorities develop a "critical consciousness" - self-empowermentthat begins with a critical and awareness of the sociologicalforces that resultin their understanding Griffith and Abdul-Adil 1999;Watts-Jones2002). (Watts, oppression 4. We reproduced ouranalysisusing cumulative logisticregressionand ordinal identicalto those we present regressionand the resultswere substantively least using ordinary squares. 5. We reestimatedthe regression equationpresented in Model 4 of Table1 includingtwo alternativemeasures of white racism. We included these measureswere measuresseparately. Thebaselinesforthese two alternatives the population and white means on the symbolicracismscale. As with our American other measureof white racismbased on the African mean, these animus. measuresincludethe degree to whichwhite racistsexpressed racial racial the racism reduced of white the mean measure population Including dividein supportfor the death penaltyby 25 percent.When we separately includedthe measure of white racismbased on the white mean, the racial dividewas reducedby 30 percent.Thus,dependingon how white racismis measured,it would be reasonableto concludethat25 percentto 39 percent of the racialdivide in the degree to which Americanssupported capital can be accountedfor by the undueinfluenceof white racism. punishment Notably,in an analysisof the reasons why white respondents(African Americanswere excluded)supportedspending more money to fight crime Barkanand Cohn (2005a) created a scale measuringantiblackprejudice and dividedit at its medianto define those who were "less"and "more" between antiblack prejudice prejudiced. Theyreporteda strong relationship and spending more to fight crime among the more prejudiced whites but found no relationship whites. They concludedthat for the less prejudiced racialprejudiceis an unacceptablereason to supportthe greaterfunding
of crime reduction policies especially in a democracy that espouses equal opportunity and egalitariantreatment (Barkanand Cohn 2005a:312).

Does White Racism Matter? * 1295

6. Tofurtherexplorethese relationships, we restrictedour analysisto African Americans and deleted whites who scored above the populationmean on the symbolic racism scale (n = 567), and race significantlypredicted supportforthe death penalty(beta = -.13, p. = .01).We also deleted whites who scored above the white mean on the symbolic racismscale (n = 666) and, as expected, race significantly predictedsupportfor the death penalty (beta = -.13, p. = .00). 7. It is also possible that white racists are more likelyto supportthe death penalty because they perceive homicidethrougha raciallens resultingin them associatingAfrican Americanswith murder and Getz 2004; (Chiricos Feaginand O'Brien 2003). References Applegate,BrandonK., Francis T. Cullen,BonnieS. Fisherand ThomasVander Ven.2000. "Forgiveness andFundamentalism: the Relationship Reconsidering between Correctional Attitudesand Religion." 38:719-54. Criminology Adalberto,and DavidV Baker.1993. "Racial and the Death Aguirre, Prejudice A ResearchNote."SocialIssues 20:150-56. Penalty: Barkan,Steven E., and Steven F. Cohn. 1994. "RacialPrejudiceand Support for the Death Penalty by Whites." Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency31:202-9. Roleof Racial SocialProblems52:300-14. Prejudice." and PublicPolicy4:39-44. Appraisal." Criminology and TheodoreSasson. 2000. ThePoliticsof Injustice.Crime Beckett,Katherine, and Punishment in America.PineForgePress. and Joel Wallman, Blumstein, editors.2000. TheCrimeDropin America. Alfred, Press. Cambridge University Bobo, Lawrence.1997. "Race,PublicOpinion,and the Social Sphere."Public 61:1-15. Opinion Quarterly and DevonJohnson.2004. "A Bobo, Lawrence, Tastefor Punishment: Blackand WhiteAmericans' Views on the Death Penaltyand the Waron Drugs." Du Bois Review 1:151-80. andJames R.Kluegel. Bobo,Lawrence, 1993."Opposition to Race-targeting: Selfinterest,Stratification AmericanSociological Ideology,or RacialAttitudes?" Review 58:443-64. Bonilla-Silva,Eduardo. 1997. "RethinkingRacism: Toward a Structural Review 62:465-80. American Interpretation." Sociological
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A.ScaleItems Appendix

Scale

Items

thei andworked minorities overcame other Jewish andmany Racism 1. Irish, Italians, prejudice Symbolic favors. dothesamewithout should anyspecial up.Blacks lessthan havegotten blacks 2. Over thepastfewyears, theydeserve. would har ifblacks hard nottrying ofsomepeople 3. It's a matter only try enough; really offas whites. bejustas well theycould itdiffic that make conditions havecreated 4. Generations ofslavery anddiscrimination class. of their out the lower towork blacks way 7 mean hard blacks ona scaleof 1 to7? (1 indicates 1.Where would Crow Jim working, yourate tooneendortheother) arenotcloser most blacks and4 indicates 7 is uninte ona scaleof 1 to7? (1 indicates 2. Where blacks would intelligent, yourate tooneendortheother) most arenotcloser blacks and4 indicates 7 is ona scaleof 1 to7? (1 indicates blacks 3. Where would trustworthy, yourate or the end to one are not closer 4 blacks and indicates most other) untrustworthy, hasanequ to make surethat dowhatever is necessary should everyone society Egalitarianism 1. Our tosucceed. opportunity Oneofthebigproblem inthiscountry. 2. Wehave equal rights gonetoofarinpushing anequal chance. wedon't thiscountry is that giveeveryone are. lessabout how be better offifweworried would 3. This people equal country inlifethan ot havemore ofa chance ifsomepeople 4. Itis notreally that biga problem fewer we would have inthiscountry more were treated 5. Ifpeople probl many equally ornot? ofyour 1. Doyouconsider to beanimportant life, part religion Religiosity Outside ofattending indifferent their 2. People service religious ways. religion practice or a week lesso once a few times a times a once a several week, day, day, youpray never? a day,on times theBible several doyouread ofattending 3. Outside services, religious a week, oncea weekorlessornever? day,a fewtimes

Authoritarianism 1. Please tellmewhich oneyouthink is more fora child tohave: important independe for elders. respect 2. Please tellmewhich oneyouthink is more fora child tohave: obedience o important reliance. 3. Please tellmewhich oneyouthink is more fora child tohave: org important curiosity manners. 4. Please tellmewhich oneyouthink is more fora child tohave: consi important being orwellbehaved. Government Trust 1. How much ofthetime doyouthink thegovernment inWashington todo youcantrust - justabout is right most ofthetime, oronly someofthetime? always, 2. Doyouthink that ingovernment waste a lotofthemoney we payintaxes, wa people someofit,ordon't waste much of it? very 3. Would is pretty much run outfo yousaythegovernment bya fewbiginterests looking themselves orthat itis run forthebenefit ofallthepeople? 4. Doyouthink that a fewofthepeople thegovernment arecrooked, notv quite running arecrooked? are,ordoyouthink many hardly anyofthem Media Influence 1. How national network newsonTV? many daysinthepastweekdidyouwatch 2. How thelocal TVnewsshows suchas many daysinthepastweekdid youwatch News" or"Action News" inthelateafternoon orearly-evening? "Eyewitness 3. How thelocal TVnewsshowsinthelate many daysinthepastweekdid youwatch evening? 4. How a daily newspaper? many daysinthepastweekdidyouread