Historical Influences on Implicit Racism: White Immigrant Identity in New York City Council Campaigns
Session I, Panel 1 - Racialized | Migration
Moderator: Laura Herron, Associate Dean for Academic Standing and Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies
Abstract
In this paper I examine historical patterns of assimilation into whiteness for European immigrants in the United States, and how this history influences racism in political campaigns today. I begin with an overview of the construction of race and whiteness in the United States, and give context for early European immigrants in the United States. I then study candidates who ran for city council in New York City in the 2013 and 2017 election cycles, and look at the racially coded appeals used on the campaign trail. I find that candidates of white immigrant groups use more racially coded appeals than any other groups of candidates, and that membership of a white immigrant group is a good indicator for use of racially coded appeals, all else equal. While my analysis is quantitative, this is not a paper about who is more or less racist. Rather, I am arguing that the history of assimilation into whiteness has shaped racism today. I conclude that even though the mechanism of assimilation into whiteness has changed dramatically, the political attitudes it produced remain more or less the same. This paper helps understand one of the ways that history contributes to the functions of racism in the United States today.
Historical Influences on Implicit Racism: White Immigrant Identity in New York City Council Campaigns
King Building 101
In this paper I examine historical patterns of assimilation into whiteness for European immigrants in the United States, and how this history influences racism in political campaigns today. I begin with an overview of the construction of race and whiteness in the United States, and give context for early European immigrants in the United States. I then study candidates who ran for city council in New York City in the 2013 and 2017 election cycles, and look at the racially coded appeals used on the campaign trail. I find that candidates of white immigrant groups use more racially coded appeals than any other groups of candidates, and that membership of a white immigrant group is a good indicator for use of racially coded appeals, all else equal. While my analysis is quantitative, this is not a paper about who is more or less racist. Rather, I am arguing that the history of assimilation into whiteness has shaped racism today. I conclude that even though the mechanism of assimilation into whiteness has changed dramatically, the political attitudes it produced remain more or less the same. This paper helps understand one of the ways that history contributes to the functions of racism in the United States today.
