Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Media Tip Sheets
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Media Tip Sheets

How does learning about past racial injustice inform understanding current racial discrimination?

Thursday, October 20, 2022, By Ellen Mbuqe
Share
Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs

A recently released study coauthored by a Syracuse University researcher reveals how beliefs and political affiliations shape the public’s understanding about racial inequalities.

The paper, “Historical information and beliefs about racial inequality,” was released earlier this year and published in the academic journal Politics, Groups, and Identities.

The researchers—Steven White, Assistant Professor, Syracuse University, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, and Albert Fang, an independent scholar based in New York City—evaluated if learning about historical events, and especially the roots of racist politics and practices in America, impact people’s beliefs about systematic racial inequality.

They analyzed data from two key studies that surveyed adults who were randomly assigned to learn about the effects of systematic housing, education, and job discrimination that has negatively impacted Black communities throughout the United States.

According to Fang and White, they “find compelling evidence that such arguments can increase beliefs in the existence of Black-white racial inequality and increase beliefs in structural causes of racial inequality, particularly among white Republicans and Independents.” They also find evidence that such information can reduce racial resentment among these groups.

The researchers say this demonstrates that exposure to historical information can induce more nuanced thinking about contemporary racial inequalities in the United States.

The researchers conclude that more study is needed for more questions arising from the research. First, they did not observe consistent effects, especially among white Republicans, of historical information on both beliefs about racial inequality’s existence and beliefs in various structural causes of racial inequality.

“We suspect this reflects differences between acknowledging a problem, acknowledging the causes of a problem, and agreeing on the solution. This suggests that even if more Americans acknowledge that racial inequality exists, agreeing on solutions to meaningfully redress it may be more difficult,” the researchers write in the paper.

The complete paper, and its supporting materials, can be found here.

Reporters looking to connect with the authors of the report, please contact Ellen James Mbuqe, executive director of media relations at Syracuse University, at 412-496-0551 or ejmbuqe@syr.edu.

  • Author
  • Faculty Experts

Ellen Mbuqe

  • Steven White

  • Recent
  • What’s New at Campus Dining in Fall 2025?
    Friday, August 29, 2025, By Jennifer DeMarchi
  • DPS Pilots License Plate Reader Technology to Enhance Campus Safety
    Friday, August 29, 2025, By Kiana Racha
  • IDJC Welcomes Fall 2025 Visiting Fellows Nathaniel Rakich and Miranda Spivack
    Friday, August 29, 2025, By Genaro Armas
  • Libraries Announces Fall 2025 Workshops
    Friday, August 29, 2025, By Cristina Hatem
  • Maxwell’s Baobao Zhang Awarded NSF CAREER Grant to Study Generative AI in the Workplace
    Friday, August 29, 2025, By Jessica Youngman

More In Media Tip Sheets

Q&A for “Will Work for Food,” A New Book Exploring Labor and the Food Chain

Associate professor Laura-Anne Minkoff-Zern, a food systems scholar and human geographer at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, is co-author of the the forthcoming book “Will Work for Food” (UC Press). With her co-author Teresa M. Mares,…

‘Perception May Matter as Much as Reality’: Syracuse Professor on Paramount-Skydance Merger’s Cultural Impact

The merger of Paramount and Skydance created a major new player in Hollywood, and the new combined company is already making a splash with its purchase of the U.S. rights to air UFC fights. But the political undertones of the…

Expert Available for New Tariffs on India

This week, the White House announced that it was doubling tariffs to 50% on imports from India, due to the country buying oil from Russia. Reporters looking for an expert to discuss how these tariffs will impact global trade and…

Sport Management Professor Calls Historic First in MLB ‘Overdue’

As Major League Baseball prepares for a historic moment this weekend with Jen Pawol becoming the first woman to umpire a major league game, Falk College of Sport Professor Mary Graham calls it “overdue,” and emphasizes the broader implications for…

Q&A: Reflecting on the 80th Anniversary of the Atomic Bombings, Lasting Impact

August marks 80 years since atomic bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki—on Aug. 6 and 9, 1945—quickly bringing an end to World War II. At the time, the U.S. was calling for Japan’s unconditional surrender,…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • Facebook
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • Youtube
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2025 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.