Emily Burnett | Stephen Klineberg | June 17, 2015
We live in a society where economic inequality divides us along racial lines, and Americans differ importantly in their beliefs about the reasons for these divisions. There are essentially two different types of explanations for inequality. Individualistic explanations place the responsibility on the people themselves for their own financial situations, citing a lack of ability or motivation as reasons for the economic disadvantages of certain racial groups. Structural explanations, on the other hand, attribute racial inequality to larger social structural forces, such as unequal access to quality education and the effects of continuing discrimination.
Previous research has found that Anglos generally offer individualistic explanations for the inequalities suffered by blacks, whereas blacks themselves typically refer to structural explanations. Research has also found that white conservative Protestants (evangelicals and fundamentalists) are more likely than other whites to invoke individualistic explanations, but black conservative Protestants are more likely than other blacks to offer structural explanations.
What are the reasons for these racial differences in the effects of religious conservatism? The individualism invoked by white conservative Protestants is thought to stem from religious values having to do with individual initiative, hard work, and God’s grace, whereas the structuralism of black conservative Protestants is attributed to the important role played by the black church in fighting for social justice during the civil rights era of the 1950s and ’60s.
Using data from the 2015 Kinder Houston Area Survey, we ask if black and white evangelical Protestants continue to differ in the same ways today in the explanations they offer for racial inequality. The Houston surveys confirm that blacks as a group are much more likely than whites to point to the structural barriers that make success so difficult for minority communities. When asked this year, for example, about the statement, “Black people in the U.S. are still a long way from having the same chance in life that white people have,” 62 percent of African Americans agreed, compared to just 37 percent of Anglos.
As in previous research, the data also indicate that being a conservative Protestant is a powerful predictor of the explanations people give for racial inequalities. As indicated in the chart, white conservative Protestants in the 2015 survey were much less likely than other Anglos (by 29 to 41 percent) to accept the view that blacks have fewer chances in life than whites. We also find that whites with less education, lower household incomes, and who are Republicans rather than Democrats are significantly more likely than other Anglos to give individualistic explanations for racial inequalities.
THE ASSOCIATIONS FOR ANGLOS AND BLACKS OF RELIGION AND POLITICS WITH STRUCTURAL EXPLANATIONS FOR RACIAL INEQUALITIES (2015)
Strikingly, as also seen in the chart, being a black conservative Protestant has the same association with the explanations people offer for inequality as it does for white conservative Protestants. Black conservative Protestants are significantly less likely than other African Americans (by 51 to 71 percent) to assert that blacks are still a long way from having the same chance in life as whites.
What accounts for the change among blacks in the relationship between conservative Protestantism and explanations for inequality? Is the structural focus of the black church shifting? Are blacks attending different kinds of churches today compared to 30 years ago? The 2015 survey raises provocative questions that call out for further research.
Burnett, a rising senior at Rice University, assisted in developing and analyzing the 2015 Kinder Houston Area Survey.