By Any Means Necessary? Overcoming the Tradeoffs Inherent in Motivating Racially Progressive Policies

Abstract

Gaining widespread support for racially progressive policies is tricky in part due to the ways identity shapes who people care about and why. Moral rationales that motivate such policies using abstract values may lead to better outcomes for minorities when adopted, but dominant group members tend not to respond favorably to them. Instrumental rationales that emphasize the ways such policies can benefit people and organizations other than minorities appeal more broadly to dominant group members, but in so doing often usher in distorted or diluted policy commitments or practices, rendering them less effective. This conundrum suggests that justification- or persuasion-based strategies may face fundamental limitations. Strategies that may overcome this conundrum include utilizing moral and instrumental appeals simultaneously, fostering a sense of cross-group unification, and sociopolitical organizing. A particularly promising strategy entails well-connected, well-respected, and highly visible dominant group members reinforcing inclusive norms. This strategy is particularly well-suited to respond to the fact that most Americans report valuing diversity and inclusion, but their attitudes and behaviors on the issue are dampened by the misperception that others are not similarly supportive.