Blame Discourse versus Realistic Conflict as Explanations of Ethnic Tension in Urban Neighborhoods

Abstract Urban neighborhoods are major sites of ethnic tension in the United States. One explanation (realistic conflict) attributes this tension to competing interests among ethnic groups that create neighborhood social problems, while another (blame discourse) attributes it to discursive practices that transform otherwise negotiable differences into ethnic conflict. Analysis of interviews with 517 residents of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (ages 16- 65 years) found considerable support for the discourse explanation. As both explanations predict, tension was greater among residents who experienced recent entry of ethnic newcomers and whose neighborhoods had severe social problems. However, blame discourse played a key role in explaining these relations. The tension associated with recent entry was more related to communication of blame than to neighborhood problems. Problems were especially likely to be associated with tension when respondents' own ethnic groups were the target of blame. Consistent with the discourse explanation, respondents who lived in cooperative neighborhoods reported less tension even when problems were severe. The results indicate that current ethnic tension may be created by discursive processes as much as or more than by realistic conflicts of interests. Keywords: Keywords BlamingConflict TheoriesDiscourseImmigrationRacial TensionUrban Neighborhoods