: Monumental Changes: Confederate Symbol Removals and Racial Attitudes in the United States

Waves of activism following the mass murder of Black Americans in Charleston, South Carolina in 2015 resulted in the removal of hundreds of Confederate symbols across the South and the rest of the United States. What effect, if any, did these removals have on people’s attitudes and behavior regarding race and racial inequality? Using difference-in-differences strategies with panels of both individuals and geographic units, I find that the removal of Confederate symbols decreased racial resentment, increased support for affirmative action and warm feelings toward Blacks, and decreased anti-Black hate crimes. These effects were strongest at the most local level at which removals took place and decayed with greater distance from removal sites. These findings are congruent with an account that local residents interpreted removals of Confederate symbols as a shift toward liberalizing social norms regarding race.2015年南卡罗来纳州查尔斯顿发生美国黑人遭大规模谋杀事件后，全美范围内兴起的一系列维权行动浪潮，促成美国南部及其他地区数百座邦联标识（Confederate symbols）被移除。这些标识的移除会对民众在种族与种族不平等议题上的态度与行为产生何种影响（若存在影响的话）？本研究采用双重差分法（difference-in-differences strategies），结合个体与地理单元的面板数据开展分析，结果显示：邦联标识的移除降低了种族怨恨（racial resentment）水平，提升了民众对平权行动（affirmative action）的支持度，增强了对黑人群体的好感，并减少了反黑人仇恨犯罪的发生。上述效应在标识移除发生的最本地尺度下最为显著，且随与移除地点距离的增加而逐渐衰减。本研究结论与下述理论阐释相符：当地居民将邦联标识的移除解读为社会在种族议题上向自由化社会规范的转向。