Date of Award
Spring 5-22-2021
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Science
Department
Sociology
First Advisor
Professor Andrew Lindner
Second Advisor
Professor Jennifer Mueller
Third Advisor
Professor June Paul
Abstract
Conventional wisdom says that when you know better, you do better. Various theories of racism generally conform to this popular understanding, motivating colleges and businesses to invest in anti-bias trainings and other educational interventions. This study aims to make contestable the logic of ‘know better, do better’ as applied to racism through asking the question: does education predict white Democrats’ antiracist attitudes relative to their political action? Informed by Mueller’s (2020) Theory of Racial Ignorance and Hersh’s (2017) concept of ‘political hobbyism,’ I propose that white Democrats with higher levels of education will, on average, score higher on an ‘Antiracist Attitudes’ scale than white Democrats with lower levels of education. I also propose that white Democrats with higher levels of education will score lower on a ‘Political Action’ scale. Finally, I propose that white Democrats with higher levels of education will, on average, score higher on the ‘Antiracist Attitudes’ scale relative to the ’Political Action’ scale than white Democrats with lower levels of education. I test these hypotheses using the 2016 American National Election Studies (ANES) survey. The results show that education has a complicated and somewhat contradictory effect on white Democrats’ antiracist attitudes, political action, and antiracist attitudes relative to political action.
Recommended Citation
Boyd, Riley and Boyd, Riley 'Tucker', "Know Better, Do Better? Do Higher Levels of Education Predict White Democrats’ Antiracist Attitudes Relative to Action?" (2021). Sociology Senior Seminar Papers. 60.
https://creativematter.skidmore.edu/socio_stu_stu_schol/60