Read on Twitter
I'm not surprised by the election results, and it's largely due to my work on the American Mosaic Project with fine colleagues like @jgerteis, @hartm021, @EvanStewart23, @ajacfrost, @jack_dele (and others).
A thread. (Stop now if you're sick of politics, which makes sense) 1/x
A thread. (Stop now if you're sick of politics, which makes sense) 1/x
In 2014, close to half of Americans and well over 40% embraced a white, Christian cultural heritage as central to American identity -- and to being the kind of person they'd want their son/daughter to marry. (Table below from 2016 @SF_Journal https://academic-oup-com.ezp3.lib.umn.edu/sf/article/95/2/607/2452916) (2/x)
In other work, we develop the "Three Americas" thesis -- that about 28% of Americans are "optimistic pluralists" who embrace religious/racial diversity, about 28% hold tight to a Christian cultural heritage as essential - but 44% are concerned about ALL forms of diversity 3/x
Republicans for decades have been appealing Cultural Preservationists and Dems to the Optimistic Pluralists and among the larger group uneasy about multiculturalism/diversity voting has split along racial lines. In short -- we're where we've been for a long time. 4/x
The Right has realized that people who are not themselves conservative Christians can be mobilized by discourse that evokes that *heritage* as essential for American identity, as dog whistle to racist fears, as an affirmation that "the way things were" was "better" 5/x
Folks vote for a "way of life" and not for policies, and the "three Americas" work shows that there is no consensus around either a Christian nationalist OR a truly progressive vision - but the former gets more support among whites scared about losing racial privilege 6/x
More work on these themes can be accessed at http://pennyedgell.com/page-cv and at https://cla.umn.edu/sociology/graduate/collaboration-opportunities/american-mosaic-project-amp
7/x
7/x
New work from a 2019 mini-survey indicates that in general, tolerance for those racially and religiously different from oneself is increasing -- *but* differences in this are more partisan (sharply divided by political party, education, race, rural/urban residence).
8/x
8/x
