WAshington – The majority of Black Americans say they have experienced racial discrimination regularly or occasionally, which influences how they view U.S. institutions such as policing, the political system and the media, according to a study of theories of conspiracy.
The study released Monday by the Pew Research Center examined the intersection between race and conspiracy beliefs. It is the second part of the research group’s series on how black Americans view success and failure.
The study defines racial conspiracy theories as ideas that Black Americans may have about “the actions of U.S. institutions” that are not necessarily the stated goals of the institution. The study emphasizes that these are claims that black Americans may have because of America’s documented history. of racist policies that widely impact Black communities, Pew examined allegations including conspiratorial beliefs about how major institutions discriminate against Black Americans and support for generational sayings like “you have to work twice as hard” to get ahead compared to Americans. whites.
For example, the study found that more than 8 in 10 Black Americans surveyed agreed with the statement that “Black people are more likely to be incarcerated because prisons want to make money at the expense of Black people.” And more than 6 in 10 Black adults surveyed agreed that institutions like the criminal justice system, the country’s economic system and policing were designed to hold Black people back.
These feelings exist parallel to the reality that black people were 32% of state and federal prisoners sentenced in 2022, even though they represent only 12% of the total US population. By comparison, whites were underrepresented among inmates, at 31%, while Hispanics were slightly overrepresented, at 23% of inmates, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
The Pew study is based on a survey of Black Americans conducted last September. The study authors say it is unlikely that opinions have changed since respondents were interviewed.
The study also explored why Black adults believe these narratives and allowed respondents to explain how they feel about discrimination and racial disparities in their own words, said Pew senior researcher and study author Kiana Cox.
She added that although the poll was released during an election year, it does not focus on partisan politics. Instead, it shows the feelings that Black Americans have that can influence how the community views the nation, but are often not heard or taken seriously.
“There are anecdotal conversations among black people about the system, the Man, the invisible hand, the agenda set to create a situation where black people cannot advance. So we wanted to explore that,” Cox said. “We also wanted to find out how many people of color are familiar with these narratives about the system being designed for their failure and how many people of color believe them.”
Americans are far from immune to conspiratorial thinking dating back to the founding of the nationa legacy that has gained new life as the internet has supercharged communication and, often, the dissemination of misinformation and rumors. The Pew study notes that Black Americans have a unique relationship with both discrimination and allegations of government conspiracy theories, given the country’s legacy of slavery, Jim Crow-era segregation laws, and modern discrimination against people. black Americans by public and private actors.
“When you have a history of American institutions actually conspiring against black people, it’s not that hard to believe that anything else would also be true,” said Tasha Philpot, a political science professor at the University of Texas at Austin who studies politics. psychology among black Americans.
“Especially in recent years, where race has been very prominent, it doesn’t surprise me that people say they are experiencing racial discrimination,” she said.
Among black adults who have experienced discrimination, about three-quarters said it made them feel as if the system as a whole was designed to suppress them. As a result, Black adults who faced discrimination also felt mixed emotions — 76% felt angry in general, 53% said they were worried about their personal safety and 41% felt depressed, for example. Researchers surveyed 4,736 Black, multiracial, Black and non-Hispanic, and Black and Hispanic respondents last September from across the country.
Black Americans would also likely believe racial conspiracy theories about politics. Three-quarters of respondents said they agreed that “black public officials being singled out for discrediting more than white officials” happens in politics today. In medicine, the survey found that 55% of respondents said they agreed with the statement that “medical researchers experiment on black people without their knowledge or consent.”
Philpot said some black Americans may still believe such theories given documented episodes of discrimination such as the Tuskegee syphilis experiment and the exclusion of black Americans from New Deal programs that benefited white Americans.
“It’s not really a conspiracy theory if it’s true,” she said.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
