The Unachievable American Dream: Courtesy of Racial Resentment, Perceived White Victimhood, and Bombs!
Academic Level at Time of Presentation
Senior
Major
Political Science, Public Relations
List all Project Mentors & Advisor(s)
Dr. Brittany Wood, PhD
Presentation Format
Oral Presentation
Abstract/Description
Contemporary literature finds a strong relationship between perceived victimhood and support for political violence. Throughout the last decade, the United States has experienced democratic backsliding, prompting an increase in support for and participation in political violence. The January 2021 American Enterprise Institute survey of United States adults found more than one-third of Americans believe “the traditional American way of life is disappearing so fast that we may have to use force to save it.” Though identification with certain socioeconomic, political, and religious groups is a strong indicator of support for political violence, no identity is as strongly correlated with political violence support as the white identity. However, the group that has had the most opportunity to experience the traditional American way of life, the “American Dream,” and the group that feels it is losing that opportunity the quickest, is the white population. Still, as the American government claims legitimacy for their war by establishing the United States as a victim of unjust persecution that is morally obligated to seek retribution through war, it is counting on Americans to identify with the melodramatic framing of victimhood to support and take part in the war. This study compares how the relationship between perceived victimhood and support for political violence is expressed among racial groups and hypothesizes white American voters who believe they are more heavily discriminated against than their nonwhite counterparts in the United States will show high levels of support for political violence because of their identification with the “traditional American way of life” and its, though not immediately apparent, purposefully impossible ideals. I plan to use ANES 2020 data to analyze the relationship between the American electorate’s perception of personal victimhood and its level of justification for violence as a means to achieve one's political goals in the United States.
Spring Scholars Week 2026
Political Science and Sociology Department Panel
The Unachievable American Dream: Courtesy of Racial Resentment, Perceived White Victimhood, and Bombs!
Contemporary literature finds a strong relationship between perceived victimhood and support for political violence. Throughout the last decade, the United States has experienced democratic backsliding, prompting an increase in support for and participation in political violence. The January 2021 American Enterprise Institute survey of United States adults found more than one-third of Americans believe “the traditional American way of life is disappearing so fast that we may have to use force to save it.” Though identification with certain socioeconomic, political, and religious groups is a strong indicator of support for political violence, no identity is as strongly correlated with political violence support as the white identity. However, the group that has had the most opportunity to experience the traditional American way of life, the “American Dream,” and the group that feels it is losing that opportunity the quickest, is the white population. Still, as the American government claims legitimacy for their war by establishing the United States as a victim of unjust persecution that is morally obligated to seek retribution through war, it is counting on Americans to identify with the melodramatic framing of victimhood to support and take part in the war. This study compares how the relationship between perceived victimhood and support for political violence is expressed among racial groups and hypothesizes white American voters who believe they are more heavily discriminated against than their nonwhite counterparts in the United States will show high levels of support for political violence because of their identification with the “traditional American way of life” and its, though not immediately apparent, purposefully impossible ideals. I plan to use ANES 2020 data to analyze the relationship between the American electorate’s perception of personal victimhood and its level of justification for violence as a means to achieve one's political goals in the United States.