Race, Violence, and the Effectiveness of Protest

Abstract

Protests constitute a primary way that members of the public express their preferences. Focusing on policy protests in the United States, we use a survey experiment to study how the race of the protesters affects public reactions. We find that relative to white nonviolent protests, Black non-violent protests are perceived as more violent, but that does not dampen individuals’ likelihood of joining the protests. Moreover, Black nonviolent protests, but not white nonviolent protests, significantly move opinion in the direction advocated by the protest. All of the race effects, though, cease to exist when protests are violent. We replicate the results with samples of citizens with connections to civic organizations and elected officials. The findings suggest that the effect of race on protest reactions is conditional, depending on the protest’s goals (e.g., alter perceptions, impact policy) and tactics (nonviolent, violent).