Racial Identity, Reparations, and Modern Views of Justice Concerning Slavery

Abstract

AbstractPublic opinion polls frequently demonstrate that the American debate on reparations for slavery falls along racial lines. However, less attention has been paid to how social psychological factors such as views of deservingness mediate that relationship. This manuscript highlights how identity, deservingness, and views of justice affect attitudes about symbolic reparations—a step that many believe is necessary to achieve closure and pave a path for racial equality. Using survey data from an opt-in sample, we demonstrate how both in-group pride and myths of undeservingness of Black Americans function through racial identity to uniquely affect a respondent’s understanding of the lasting harms of slavery. Increases in pride result in opposition to symbolic reparations among white Americans, but they lead to support among Black Americans and Latinx Americans. Racial/ethnic pride has no impact on support for such reparations among Asian Americans. We find that agreement with myths of Black Americans’ undeservingness largely explains the effect of pride among white Americans but not among racialized minority groups, and we argue that this is largely due to the socio- historical context of their identities. We conclude by discussing the implications this has for reparations as a form of justice 155 years after formal slavery ended in the United States.