Hate Group Impressions of Barack Obama Pre and
Hate Group Impressions of Barack Obama Pre and Post the 2008 Election Kristina L. Wesler
Introduction Ø Barack Ø But Obama’s Presidency brings hope racism still exists Ø Bradley effect Ø Life outcomes (Willis-Esqueda 2008)
Racist Numbers
Research Question How do Representations and Responses to Obama change after the election for hate group members?
U. S. History ► Previous ► Obama Presidents have all been white. as outgroup member and in charge ► Perceived loss of power could lead to decreased self-esteem.
Prejudice Ø Fein and Spencer (1997) found that loss of self-esteem can leads to greater prejudice Ø Hate crimes can lift self-esteem (Hunt, 2007) ØMake own group seem more powerful
Expectations ► More prevalent Violent and Isolation Responses will be made online after the election than before ► Could lift self-esteem and shield from outgroup
Methods ► Websites ► Coded ► 3 from Southern Poverty Law Center by Category websites from each category of Hate § Beliefs and behaviors differ (Adams, Roscigno 2005).
Hate Groups ► Neo-Nazi ► Racist ► K. K. K. ► Christian ► White ► Black Nationalist Skinhead Identity ► Neo-Confederate ► Generalized Hate
Hate Group Focus ► Neo-Nazi § Hitler/Jews ► K. K. K. ► Racist Skinhead § Nationalist, W pride § Working class dresscode § Pro-America ► White Nationalist § Genetics ► Christian Identity § 2 seed theory § Tribulation
10 Posts
10 Forums * 10 Posts
3 Websites * 10 Forums * 10 Posts
5 Categories * 3 Websites * 10 Forums * 10 Posts
1500 Total Posts
Representation Of Obama ► Categories of Obama Representations § Animal, Less Human, Personality Flaws, Un. American, Religious. ► Tallies taken for individual posts § Repeated references not counted § Agreement alone not counted § Separate views counted
Representations ► Animal: Rodent, chimp, ► Un-American: Illegal, snake. communist, socialist, end of America. ► Less Human: Troll, savage. ► Personality flaws: corrupt, addict. ► Religious: Jew, Muslim, Devil, Son of Cain.
Response to Presidency ► Arm: “Buy guns, archery equipment” ► Social Action: “March, vote, donate” ► Isolation: “Flee, send blacks back” ► Violence: “Pull an MLK, start a race war!” ► Passive subversion: “Refuse him as President”
Time Order/ Reliability ► October ► Avoids ► 2 and December 2008 new Presidency effects raters used, Reliable
Representations, All Groups
Responses, All Groups
One Group Results ► Combined ► Should ► Ease websites into hate group be similar of Presentation
KKK Pre KKK Post Neo Nazi Pre Neo Christ Skin Nazi ID Pre ID head Post Pre Post White N. Pre N. Post Animal 82 132 66 58 28 30 25 42 62 49 Chi, P 5. 71 . 02 1. 63 . 2 . 002 . 89 8. 75 . 001 1 . 32 Less Human 34 50 49 54 10 91 23 13 37 52 Chi, P . 84 . 36 5. 84 . 02 66. 1 . 001 1. 54 . 21 4. 02 . 04 Personali 11 ty Flaw 138 106 41 117 119 105 88 105 101 Chi, P . 01 . 91 15. 4 . 001 . 64 . 42 . 02 . 87 . 03 . 86 Un-Amer 77 65 100 64 151 54 89 62 132 101 Chi, P . 016 . 69 . 41 78. 3 . 001 2. 22 . 137 3. 71 . 05 Religious 23 17 25 31 44 94 9 9 25 37 Chi, P . 11 4. 71 . 03 16. 4 . 001 . 12 . 73 3. 4 . 06 5. 85 2. 6
KKK Pre KKK Post Neo Nazi Pre Neo Nazi Post Christ Skin. ID Pre ID head Post Pre Skinhead Post White N. Pre N. Post 21 19 28 94 4 39 45 48 11 13 Chi, P. 01 . 922 17. 28 . 001 23. 6 . 001 . 13 . 72 . 18 . 67 Social 88 Act. 36 97 147 130 68 116 107 78 57 Chi, P 25. 42 . 001 . 03 . 87 49. 6 . 001 . 56 . 45 6. 58 . 01 Viol. 59 62 81 55 57 49 35 18 17 Chi, P 20. 1 . 001 1. 25 . 264 . 95 . 33 2. 7 . 10 . 03 . 856 Pass. Subv. 22 25 25 11 63 75 32 37 11 31 Chi, P. 92 . 34 14. 51 . 001 . 04 . 85 . 44 . 51 11. 29 . 001 Isol 11 11 25 32 37 115 31 45 16 16 Chi, P. 1 . 75 . 53 . 466 34. 15 . 001 3. 06 . 08 0 1 Arm 29
Conclusions ► Hypothesis ► Hate was poorly supported groups are distinct ►But increasingly connected (Burris, Smith, Strahm 2000; Gerstenfeld et al. 2003)
Future Research ► Should keep track of exact Representations and Responses. ► Could ► May follow individual posts for trends. be served by comparisons
Questions?
- Slides: 31