Union membership reduces racism

Abstract

Political Science Historical research has suggested that the advent of unions created social ties that may have reduced white workers' racism toward their African American co-workers. Frymer and Grumbach used national survey data in the United States to show that union membership is associated with reduced negative racial attitudes among white workers toward African Americans. They then used longitudinal data to show that gaining union membership predicts reductions in negative racial attitudes. Compared with nonunionized workers, unionized workers also support more policies that would benefit African Americans. These data have implications for understanding the interplay of declining union membership and racism in the United States. Am. J. Pol. Sci. 10.1111/ajps.12537 (2020).