Beliefs about Structural Racism Shape Perceptions of Racial Economic Inequality

Despite vast racial disparities in economic outcomes, White Americans tend to overestimate their economic parity with Black Americans. White Americans also tend to be less likely to hold an understanding of racism that is rooted in structural processes, relative to individual-level biases. Across three studies ( N = 2,124 participants), the present research explored whether White Americans’ misperceptions of racial economic inequality are explained, in part, by a general lack of exposure to information about structural racism. In Study 1, we measured the extent to which participants conceptualized racism in terms of structural factors. In Studies 2 and 3, we experimentally manipulated exposure to information about structural racism. Specifically, participants listened to an audio clip discussing structural roots of racial discrimination, a comparable audio clip on implicit racial bias, or no clip at all. In each study, participants estimated Black–White equality in income and wealth, then indicated their support for reparative public policies (e.g., affirmative action in hiring). Across Studies 1–3, holding a structural understanding of racism was correlated with perceiving lower levels of contemporary Black–White economic equality and greater support for racial equity-enhancing policies. Further, exposing participants to information about structural racism led them to perceive lower levels of racial economic equality (vs. interpersonal racism or control information in Study 2) and express more equity-enhancing policy support (vs. interpersonal racism information in Study 3).