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Rebuttals as deracializing strategies for African American and white candidates

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 November 2020

Matthew Tokeshi Open the ORCID record for Matthew Tokeshi [Opens in a new window]
Matthew Tokeshi*
Affiliation:
Williams College, Schapiro Hall Room 238, 24 Hopkins Hall Drive, Williamstown, MA 01267, USA
*
Corresponding author. E-mail: mt13@williams.edu
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Abstract

The study of American racial politics has long focused on the conditions that activate racial animosity. A central line of research demonstrates that campaign messages that highlight negative stereotypes of African Americans can activate whites' racial attitudes. However, little is known about whether this activation can be overcome. I develop a theory of racial deactivation and test its predictions with two survey experiments. I find that explicitly criticizing the racial nature of an attack restores support for white candidates, but not African American candidates. However, African American and white candidates fare equally well using two rebuttal styles: a credible, non-racial justification of the attacked action or an explicit racial critique combined with the justification. The results have implications for how race affects campaigns, the susceptibility of the American public to racial cues, and campaign strategy.

Keywords

Race and electionswhite votersAfrican American candidates
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics , Volume 7 , Issue 2 , July 2022 , pp. 219 - 238
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Race, Ethnicity, and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association

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