The Context-Dependence of Social Norms in Evaluations of Racially-Derogatory Political Messages among Blacks and Whites

Abstract

Theories of race norms suggest that, except for prejudiced people, individuals should recognize and reject racially derogatory speech. The increase in derogation in politics, including by non-white candidates, suggests more complexity. We argue that the application of norms can be context dependent. Specifically, the race of the observer and the race of the speaker are critical to understanding when and how norms work: a history of discrimination allows Black voters to recognize derogation independent of contextual cues, but white voters rely on a speaker’s race to determine whether speech is derogatory. We test this theory using four experiments that compare reactions of white and Black respondents to white, Black, and Muslim candidates. The results confirm that Black voters are more likely to recognize and penalize racial derogation regardless of the race of the derogator, while white votes tend to recognize and penalize derogation only when issued by white candidates. 

Keywords: racial resentment, ingroup derogation, social norms