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RACISM, GROUP POSITION, AND ATTITUDES ABOUT IMMIGRATION AMONG BLACKS AND WHITES1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 December 2014

Vincent L. Hutchings  and
Cara Wong
Vincent L. Hutchings*
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science Center for Political Studies, University of Michigan
Cara Wong
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, University of Illinois Center for Political Studies, University of Michigan
*
*Corresponding author: Professor Vincent Hutchings, Center for Political Studies, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, 426 Thompson Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48106. E-mail: vincenth@umich.edu.
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Abstract

Previous research has shown that racial or ethnic prejudice is one of the most influential antecedents of opposition to more expansive immigration policies. In this paper, we explore whether a theoretical perspective derived from the group position model might represent an additional and complementary explanation for immigration attitudes. We also compare how well the prejudice and group position models explain immigration attitudes among both White and Black Americans. Most of the previous work in this literature focuses solely on Whites’ attitudes, and it remains unclear how well models designed with this group in mind might also apply to African Americans. We rely upon the 2004–2005 National Politics Study to explore the power of these models. In general, we find that measures derived from the group position model account for immigration attitudes even after controlling for various forms of out-group prejudice. The pattern of results also differs considerably across the two racial groups in our study.

Keywords

ImmigrationPrejudiceWhiteBlackRacial AttitudesGroup Conflict
Type
State of the Art
Information
Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race , Volume 11 , Issue 2 , Fall 2014 , pp. 419 - 442
Copyright
Copyright © Hutchins Center for African and African American Research 2014 

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