A researcher explains how racial resentment drives opposition to gun control

[applegrove]

A researcher explains how racial resentment drives opposition to gun control

by German Lopez at Vox

http://www.vox.com/2016/4/13/11408528/guns-race-white-identity

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A recent study, published in the journal Political Behavior in November, provides a potential answer: racial resentment. Looking at survey data going back to the 1990s, researchers found a strong correlation between opposition to gun control and levels of racial resentment.

But the results only found a correlation, so the researchers dug deeper. They asked nearly 1,200 white participants a series of questions online about gun laws. But one half of the group first looked at pictures of white and black people from an implicit association test — to make them think about race — while the other half did not.

The researchers found that white participants who were primed by the pictures were more likely to oppose gun control than white participants who didn't see the images. What's more, primed participants who reported higher levels of racial resentment were even more likely to oppose gun control than primed participants who reported lower levels of racial resentment.

The researchers concluded that there is likely some sort of causal connection between racial resentment and opposition to gun control.

Alexandra Filindra, one of the authors of the study, said the results suggest that guns are seen as a symbolic way for white Americans to declare their racial identity. She references the idea of the white citizen soldier, who stood up to the British in the Revolutionary War and is ready to stand up to perceived tyranny again today — something we've seen in the past several years with the rise of militia groups.



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