Belief in Systemic Racism and Exposure to Institutional Inequality Among Black Adults: Investigating the Complexities of Black Leadership and Racial Equality

Systemic racism comprises anti-Black practices, white privilege, legacies of economic and other racial disparities, and an ideological frame whites create to rationalize their privilege. This study asks whether Black people’s belief in the significance of systemic racism (i.e. racial capital) associates with the perception Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential election showed Blacks now enjoy racial equality. It also asks whether exposure to institutional inequality (i.e. criminal justice contact, unemployment, lack of health insurance, and housing instability) moderates the association between racial capital and the perception Blacks now enjoy racial equality. Analyses of nationally representative data from the Outlook on Life Surveys, 2012, indicate that racial capital associates inversely with perceiving Blacks now enjoy racial equality. Additionally, exposure to institutional inequality moderates the relationship: When racial capital and exposure to institutional inequality are high, Black people tend to perceive that Obama’s 2008 presidential election showed Blacks now enjoy racial equality.