“Who Cares?”: Investigating Consistency in Expressions of Racial Apathy among Whites

Abstract

Survey researchers theorize that how whites express racial prejudice changes across time. They argue one of its contemporary forms is racial apathy (i.e., not caring about racial equality). However, few empirical studies characterize racial apathy. To fill this gap, the present study addresses consistency in racial apathy across time at the population level and individual level. Using three waves of panel data (i.e., 2003, 2007–2008, and 2013) from the National Study of Youth and Religion, the authors examine the distribution of racial apathy at each wave. The authors then cross-tabulate racial apathy at wave 1 and wave 3, wave 3 and wave 4, and wave 1 and wave 4. The authors next explore correlates of individual-level consistency in racial apathy across time. Results reveal strong population-level consistency concurrent with weak individual-level consistency in the distribution of racial apathy. Furthermore, few correlates predict individual-level consistency.

Homicide Rates and the Multiple Dimensions of Urbanization: A Longitudinal, Cross-National Analysis

“…Without FIML, the common default of listwise deletion in Model 1 (n = 113) excluded three OECD countries and 38 countries with populations of over one million, which is normal with the common criteria used for sample selection in the quantitative literature (see Appendix B). To be clear, in the social sciences, generally, the issue of missing data continues to be handled by way of listwise deletion or largely ignored, even in studies published in social science journals with an explicit focus on innovative empirical research [46][47][48][49].…”

Recognition and Disregard: The Relationship Between Racial Apathy and Liberal Reforms on Monetary Sanctions

“…These items ask respondents (1) whether they are concerned about Chicago's race relations and (2) whether respondents feel sorry for racial minorities when they see them being poorly treated. Not only do these cross-loaded findings tell us that two items intended to capture racial apathy may be tapping into the latent construct of racial resentment, but it speaks to some of the difficulties encountered when measuring racial apathy (see also Alexander 2018;Brown et al 2019). Future studies may consider refining how the construct is operationalized.…”

“…To date, few inquiries have taken up the construct of racial apathy and those that do tend to study it among whites only (e.g., Alexander 2018;Brown et al 2019;Lewis 2006, 2015). Our project joins recent work by Brown et al (2020) by departing from a singular focus on whites to consider whether other groups adhere to racial apathy as well.…”

“…As an emotional script, racial apathy is deleterious insomuch that it recognizes discriminatory harm without committing to anything. In defining racial apathy in this way, we depart from recent studies (e.g., Brown et al 2019Brown et al , 2020Ebert, Liao, and Estrada 2020;Estrada, Ebert, and Lore 2016) that deploy the construct within a context of colorblindness to capture the denial of discrimination. Whereas colorblind ideology does not deny racial inequality but the discrimination that creates it (Bonilla-Silva 2003), we contend that racial apathy acknowledges the persistence of discrimination but deflects any complicity with its spoils (see also Yamashita 2020).…”

Anticipating White Futures: The Ends‐Based Orientation of White Thinking

“…Individuals and groups are often invested in “knowing badly” or evading knowledge altogether, even when knowledge and understanding are freely available (McGoey 2012; Somin 2015). Mueller's (2020) Theory of Racial Ignorance (TRI) demonstrates how deeply this phenomenon permeates systems ordered by white supremacy, where white people form attachments to mis understanding, not knowing , and (even if they know) not caring about many things related to race and racism (Brown et al 2019; Feagin 2020; Forman and Lewis 2015; Mills 1997). Ignorance and apathy ease the work of maintaining white domination, allowing white people to execute and abide by racism without having to look and feel “racist” (i.e., deviant and immoral).…”