In-Group Gender Consciousness and White Women's Perceptions of Racism

The denial of racism is pervasive in our societies and has negative implications for anti-racist social change and cross-solidarity coalition building. In the U.S., White people are less likely to report that there is racial inequality compared to People of Color (POC). Previous research has identified marginalized group consciousness, preservation of the status quo through group presentation and group image, and critical knowledge of historical racism (i.e., the Marley hypothesis) as predictors of perceptions of racism. No previous study has explicitly explored the impact of White people’s marginalized group consciousness on perceiving racism and how these other frameworks may contribute to that relationship. This study examines whether White American women’s greater marginalized group consciousness in the form of gender consciousness (i.e., identifying as a feminist, perceiving gender discrimination, demonstrating pro-gender equality values) positively correlates with greater perceptions of racism. Specifically, I hypothesized that it would have a positive impact on their perception of (1) anti-Black, anti-Hispanic, and anti-Asian discrimination, (2) anti-Black racism as a systemic issue, and (3) anti-Black policing. I utilized data from the American National Election Study (2020) and conducted Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) analysis to study this connection. Each study's sample consisted of between 1,290 to 1,947 White American women. Overall, the results confirmed my hypothesis that there is a positive correlation between gender consciousness and perceptions of racism, as almost all aspects of gender consciousness significantly affected the group’s perceptions of racism. I argued that the increased reporting of perceived racism is informed by a greater understanding of oppression overall, heightened motivation to recognize racism due to overlapping group interests, and exposure to mainstream feminism. The findings of this thesis contribute to the inquiry about perceived racism by being the first study to study the impact of gender consciousness on perceptions of racism.