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This article explains why some Americans support affirmative action and preferential hiring and promotion while others do not. Unlike most studies that examine White opinions exclusively, we explore the determinants of opinions by Whites, African Americans, Hispanics, and Asian Americans. We find that a majority of Americans draw a distinction between affirmative action and preferential hiring and promotion, with African Americans diverging noticeably from Whites when it comes to supporting the former policy relative to the latter. Using the 2004 and 2008 waves of the National Politics Study, we test hypotheses regarding perceived racial discrimination and racial resentment. Evidence from logit regression analyses reveal that racial resentment is useful for explaining White opposition to affirmative action and preferential hiring and promotion. Perceived racial discrimination has little to no effect on Whites, but encourages African Americans, Hispanics, and Asians to support affirmative action and preferential hiring and promotion. Racial resentment fosters opposition to both among racial minorities.
Mangum et al. (Sun,) studied this question.