We use the 2020/2021 National Politics Study to examine two central questions: 1. How do religious beliefs and clergy sermons about race associate with support for Black Lives Matter (BLM) and racial justice work? And 2. Is the relationship between religion and BLM-related attitudes and activism similar or different across race groups? We found the following: In the months following the summer of 2020 protests in response to George Floyd's murder, African, Hispanic, and White American worship goers who heard sermons about race and policing were more likely than were their co-ethnics to approve of BLM and to engage in racial justice work. Identifying with the religious left and believing that social justice is a core part of one's religaious beliefs is also associated with these groups approving of BLM and engaging in racial justice work. That said, race matters. These forms of religion tend to maintain stronger relationships with White BLM-related attitudes and activism than they do for African Americans and Hispanics.

ABSTRACTResearch on racial policy attitudes has primarily focused on the attitudes of black and white Americans. However, given the shifting racial landscape in the United States, it is important to understand how other racial groups view important social issues. Using Blumer’s group positions model, this research seeks to determine the predictors of five immigration attitudes among white, black, and both U.S. and foreign-born Hispanic Americans. Results using data from the 2004 and 2008 National Politics Study show that black, white, and U.S.-born Hispanic Americans display more anti-immigration attitudes than foreign-born Hispanics, with Black and White Americans showing the most anti-immigrant attitudes. Further, results show that whereas individual economic threat has a similar effect on immigration attitudes for Americans of all racial backgrounds, whites’ attitudes are also shaped by group-based economic and political threat and racial affect. These findings indicate that whites’ unique position as the dominant economic and political group in the United States makes their immigration attitudes uniquely sensitive to group-based threats to their dominant position.KEYWORDS: Group PositionsImmigrationPolitical AttitudesRace/EthnicityRacial Threat Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Notes1 We acknowledge that Latinx Americans can indeed identify as Hispanic and any other combination of the designations that have been established as “races.” We also understand that many identify racially as Latino/a/x (Gomez Citation2020). There is disagreement in the social sciences concerning whether Latinx should be considered a race or ethnicity, thus we follow guidance offered by Bean (Citation2018) and refer to this population and others as ethnoracial populations. The use of the term outgroup is not to suggest that all individuals view themselves as part of a cohesive group, but to follow the terminology used in social psychology to speak to how individuals may view other populations who they perceive as not sharing the same race or ethnicity as them.2 We use the phrase “U.S. American” when referring specifically to citizens of the United States. At times when discussing Latinx, we specify whether we are referring to those who are foreign born or those who were born in the United States. Whether these individuals are foreign born, or U.S. born, they are still considered Americans. We opted for specificity to avoid speaking about individuals using a U.S.-centric frame of reference. We use the terms Hispanic and Latinx American interchangeably to describe Americans descended from Latin America. We understand that Latinx Americans are comprised of various nationalities and even races. However, a considerable body of research suggests that many Latinx Americans view themselves as a separate group distinct from others such as White Americans and Black Americans. We also use African American and Black American interchangeably to describe Americans of African descent.3 Please see (Jackson et al. Citation2004, Citation2008) for additional details relating to the methodology used in the NPS study. While it would have been ideal to have more recent data than the NPS studies used here, there was simply no more recent data source that was suitable to test the hypotheses presented. Namely, the NPS contains both the zero-sum competition questions and the full complement of immigration questions that are necessary to test our theoretical propositions and relatively large numbers of both immigrant and American-born Hispanics. Nevertheless, we assert that this data remains relevant given that this paper tests a basic theoretical process regarding the precursors to outgroup attitudes developed in the 1930s using immigration as a specific manifestation of more basic social psychological processes. In other words, while immigration attitudes generally may have changed in the past decades, we maintain that the theoretical process remains operative and is worth documenting. Indeed, due to the unique nature of the NPS, the data continues to be widely used to study basic patterns that shape political attitudes particularly among racial minorities (Jackson et al. Citation2004, Citation2008)4 The percentages of imputed values for the dependent variables were immigration level (6.6 percent), English as official language (.08 percent), foreign language ballots (1.3 percent), border spending (2.7 percent), and immigrants make the United States open to new ideas (1.6 percent).Additional informationNotes on contributorsRandall R. WyattRandall Wyatt is a special instructor of sociology in the Department of Anthropology, Sociology, Criminal Justice, and Social Work at Oakland University. His research focuses on the social psychological and political factors that associate with intergroup conflict and collaboration.David M. MerollaDavid M. Merolla is associate professor and department chair of sociology at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. His research focuses on race and racism, social psychology, and the sociology of education.

This article provides tips on how popular media, specifically that of science fiction and horror, can be utilized in the classroom to elucidate complex concepts concerning race and ethnic relations. Drawing from the television series Lovecraft Country, I highlight how concepts found in the work of authors such as W. E. B. Du Bois and Frantz Fanon are made more interesting and digestible for students at the undergraduate level when presented in films that rely heavily on science fiction and imagination. Reflections are included from students who watched this series in class during weeks where Du Bois and Fanon were required reading, demonstrating the impact the show had on their understanding of the two thinkers specifically and the study of race and ethnicity generally.