The study found that when Democrats frame policy around race-conscious ideas — including affirmative action — they are less likely to galvanize party voters.
Authors Micah English and Joshua L. Kalla set out to check “how racial attitudes shape policy preferences in the era of Black Lives Matter and increasing liberal views on racial issues,” their study explains.
The abstract reads: “How do racial attitudes shape policy preferences in the era of Black Lives Matter and increasingly liberal views on racial issues? A large body of research finds that highlighting the benefits of progressive policies for racial minorities undermines support for those policies. However, Democratic elites have started centering race in their messaging on progressive public policies. To explore this puzzle, in this paper we offer an empirical test that examines the effect of describing an ostensibly race-neutral progressive policy with racial framing, as used by Democratic elites, on support for that policy. To benchmark these effects, we compare a race policy frame with class, race and class, and neutral policy frames. We demonstrate that despite leftward shifts in public attitudes towards issues of racial equality, racial framing decreases support for race-neutral progressive policies. Generally, the class frame most successfully increases support for progressive policies across racial and political subgroups.”
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The pair used an online survey to see if race-neutral proposals attracted more or less support from voters than if they were framed by leaders in a racial context.
They asked voters whether they would support increasing the minimum wage, forgiving student debt, upzoning housing, the Green New Deal, universal Medicare, and marijuana decriminalization.
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To some participants, the issues were framed as promoting either racial and economic justice. To others, the policies were neutrally explained, devoid of mention of race or class.
The messages were always presented as those of the Democratic Party, to keep the partisan theme constant. The surveyors used real language from politicians.
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The study found that white voters were more likely to support a policy framed around economic class than a race-framed or neutral policy.
“Interestingly, the null effect on the race and class frame suggests that adding the race frame diminishes the positive effect of the class frame,” the study stated.
Black voters in the study were no more responsive to racial issues than class issues, the students pointed out.
The study argues that while “old-fashioned racism” has declined over the years, “racism remains a pernicious force in white Americans’ policy preferences.”
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“Despite leftward shifts in public attitudes towards issues of racial equality, racial framing decreases support for race-neutral progressive policies,” the students wrote. On the other side of the aisle, Republicans decreased their support for issues framed around race and class.
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