The Antipathy of Black Nationalism: Behavioral and Attitudinal Implications of an African American Ideology

A common theme in the literature is that nationalism feeds into the intolerance and antipathy toward others. Although little previous research has explored the relationship between a nationalist belief system and individual-level intolerance, we examine the extent to which a black nationalist belief system is associated with intolerance, mistrust, and disaffection toward others. We find that most African Americans endorse at least half of the components of black nationalism; but reflecting a degree of pragmatism, they give little support to less realistic aspects of black nationalism such as blacks forming a separate nation. Furthermore, the consistency of responses across the components of black nationalism reveals a coherent and structured ideology. Controlling for the effects of age, demographic factors, social identity, and measurement artifacts, a strong black nationalist ideology is associated with greater disaffection toward whites, but not toward gays, black conservatives, lesbians, middle-class blacks, or feminists. A black nationalist belief system also correlates with intense perceptions of racism in society and less support for systemic means for combating perceived racial injustice.