Meanings and Impacts of Confederate Monuments in the U.S. South

Dados Bibliográficos

ID7464740
AutoresLucy Britt (0000-0002-9792-2153), Emily Wager, Emily M Wager (0000-0003-1935-1954), Tyler Steelman (0009-0005-0159-5354), Tyler S Steelman (0000-0002-7769-0949)
Ano2020
Volume17
Fascículo1
Páginas105-123
Data de publicação2020-01-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoDu Bois Review Social Science Research on Race (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1742-058X • E-ISSN: 1742-0598
EditoraCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s1742058x2000020x
OpenAlexW3101386579
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas9
Referências citadas29

How do citizens interpret contentious symbols that pervade their community? And what downstream effects does state protection of these symbols have on how citizens of different backgrounds feel they belong in their community? We approach these questions through the lens of race and Confederate monuments in the American South. We rely on two original surveys to illustrate 1) the symbolic meanings Americans attach to these monuments and 2) how state protection of them impacts residents’ feelings of belonging. We find that perceptions of Confederate monuments vary by race: White U.S. residents are drastically less likely to perceive them as symbolic of racial injustice than are Black U.S. residents. Further, state protection of Confederate monuments leads to a diminished sense of belonging among Blacks, while leaving Whites unaffected. This research moves beyond scholarship examining simple support for or opposition toward contentious symbols, developing a deeper understanding of what meaning those symbols can hold for individuals and what their impacts are on individuals’ feelings of belonging and engagement in their communities

Criminology · Feeling · Injustice · Meaning (existential · Opposition (politics · Political science · Politics · Race (biology · Scholarship · Sociology · State (computer science · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Psychology · Social and Cultural Dynamics · Social and Intergroup Psychology · Gender Studies · Law · Social Psychology