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Growing research finds that Americans’ views on race, policing, and punishment are shaped by a desire to restore America’s traditional religio-political hierarchies (what scholars call Christian nationalism), but these associations often vary by race and party. Extending this literature, we theorize Christian nationalism will influence Americans’ views on police treatment of Black and Hispanic Americans relative to White Americans, but that these effects will be conditioned by racial and political identities in different ways. Data from the 2021 General Social Survey show Christian nationalism is negatively associated with Americans’ recognizing inequality in policing. Yet interactions affirm these associations vary by racial, partisan, and ideological identities. Specifically, Christian nationalism inclines White Americans to deny racial inequality in policing, but this is less the case for Black or Hispanic Americans. Political identities show a different pattern. Christian nationalism has no influence on Republicans’ and “extremely conservative” Americans’ views on whether police treat White Americans better than racial minorities. Instead, Christian nationalism seems to make Democrats and “extremely liberal” Americans indistinguishable from their Republican and “extremely conservative” counterparts. Findings indicate Americans’ evaluations of racial inequality in police treatment are shaped by a complex interplay between racial identities, politics, and desire for religio-political supremacy.
Seto et al. (Mon,) studied this question.