Rethinking migrant reception in the age of color-blind racism: an experimental approach

Abstract

A large and robust literature has emerged in recent years that looks at the acceptance of migrants into Western countries. Surprisingly, these studies have consistently found that residents in Western countries accept non-White migrants at virtually the same level as White migrants. Missing from these studies is an engagement with racism in its modern form, which is often more “color-blind,” or hidden, rather than overtly expressed, and thus can be more difficult to capture. In this study, I ask the following questions: (1) What role do racialization processes play in attitudes toward migrants? and (2) Do these processes vary across different questions of acceptance? To answer these questions, this study utilizes Duboisian insight to argue that, while White attitudes toward non-White migrants may be positive in the abstract, when Whites are forced to give up their symbolic and material power in the process, this positive reception wanes. The study utilizes a conjoint design experimental online survey to test the acceptance of migrants applying for refugee status across multiple outcomes: (1) legal acceptance, which measures the acceptance across the physical border, and (2) symbolic acceptance, which measures the acceptance into American society. These findings replicate prior research in finding no significant difference between the legal acceptance of White and non-White migrants among White respondents. However, when the acceptance outcome becomes symbolic, this parity dissipates. This study contributes to the literature by adding a symbolic layer to migrant acceptance in the United States, an important distinction in the era of color-blind racism.