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A critical review

JOURNAL ARTICLE

The Persistent Effect of U.S. Civil Rights Protests on Political Attitudes

By Soumyajit Mazumder

[Paris Roby

Upper Iowa University

July 20, 2021

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Abstract

Soumyajit Mazumder wrote this Journal about the effects that civil rights protest in

general has had on the mindset of Americans demographically. Soumyajit Journal I find to relate

to this week curriculum. I wrote earlier in our discussion about the most important amendment

being the first amendment. Constitution of United States of America 1789 (rev. 1992) Congress

shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;

or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to

assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. That simple but

powerful statement there today allows us to look at history and the civil rights Movement and put

in perspective the phycological effect it had on White America in different demographics.

In his journal he writes Using the case of the U.S. civil rights movement, I develop a

theory in which protests can shift attitudes and these attitudes can persist. Data from over

150,000 survey respondents provide evidence consistent with the theory. Whites from counties

that experienced historical civil rights protests are more likely to identify as Democrats and

support affirmative action, and less likely to harbor racial resentment against blacks. Using

cross-sectional, historical data on U.S. civil rights protests during 1960-65 combined with

contemporary public opinion data, I find that whites from counties that experienced civil rights

protests tend to be more liberal today, especially with respect to racial attitudes. He goes on to

describe that non- violent protest effected the attitude of whites differently compared to violent

protest. Particularly, the priming of identities that exist beyond race, persuasion, and strategic

signaling provides plausible paths through which nonviolent protests can shift attitudes and

reduce prejudice against the protesting group. These beliefs persist through processes of

intergenerational transmission of political attitudes and values He shows in his Journal how the
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Civil Rights protest is still a factor today in these places and beyond. If our Bill of rights were

not created and expanded as we became a more diverse society from peaceful and organize

protest a lot more of Americas ideal of minorities would be tainted. We have come a long way

but haver further to go. Very in-depth article.

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References

American Journal of Political Science

Vol. 62, No. 4 (OCTOBER 2018), pp. 922-935 (14 pages)

Published by: Midwest Political Science Association

https://www.jstor.org/stable/26598792

JOURNAL ARTICLE

The Persistent Effect of U.S. Civil Rights Protests on Political Attitudes

Soumyajit Mazumder

American Journal of Political Science, Vol. 62, No. 4 (OCTOBER 2018), pp. 922-935