Laissez-faire Racism - Symbolic Racism

Symbolic Racism

Symbolic racism, which is a term connected with the work of David O. Sears, who is the Professor of Psychology and Political Science at UCLA, and his associate, Donald Kinder, is a mix of racist ideals combined with the traditional American moral standards connected with Protestant ethical values. These ideals are concerned with moral character and behavior in association with the belief in individualism.

According to Silva, many researchers have criticized the concept of symbolic racism because it asserts the theory that the "anti-Black" affect and individualism is new. These critics believe that laissez-faire racism should not be confused with "symbolic racism."

Dr. Lawrence D. Bobo defines symbolic racism as a form of learned social values that involve the Protestant ethic and anti-black sentiments and fears in a framework where overt segregation and biological racism are less severe. Bobo’s concept of laissez-faire racism differs from symbolic racism in three respects.

First, Bobo states that laissez-faire racism deals with the historical analysis of the political and economic modification of race in America. Bobo claims that symbolic racism researchers have not effectively dealt with or explained why what they call old-fashioned racism declined or why symbolic racism adopts the specific form and perspective that it does today.

Second, Bobo states that symbolic racism is also explicitly based on the idea of the sociocultural theory of prejudice, which places its central meaning on the "psychological affective" nature of racist attitudes. Laissez-faire racism, on the other hand, is based on the sociological theory of prejudice.

Third, Bobo believes that symbolic racism deals with the idea that blacks don’t work hard enough and are trying to take what they have not earned and focuses on the individual and individual character traits; while laissez-faire racism is based on prevalent social or economic patterns.