Race, Prejudice and Support for Racial Justice Countermovements: The Case of ‘Blue Lives Matter’
Published in Political Behavior, 2023
In this article, we develop and test three propositions related to the status of a primary counterpoint of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement—”Blue Lives Matter” (BlueLM). Employing correlational and causal analyses on a wide array of data, including public opinion, news and social media, internet searches, and merchandise sales, our findings are threefold: first, we offer evidence that Whiteness is associated with attitudinal and behavioral indicators of support for BlueLM; second, we present evidence that support for BlueLM is systematically linked to White racial prejudice; and third, we demonstrate that BlueLM activity is caused by BLM protest following a high-profile police killing of a Black man, which comports with the conceptualization of BlueLM as engaging in a process of “competitive victimhood” against BLM. Together, these findings suggest that BlueLM is a new incarnation of an ongoing history of White countermobilization against organized Black claims-making activity.
Recommended citation: Reny, T., Newman, B., & Merolla, J. (2023). "Race, Prejudice and Support for Racial Justice Countermovements: The Case of 'Blue Lives Matter'." Political Behavior.
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