White Racial Attitudes and Support for the Mississippi State Flag

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a dearth of literature documenting a relationship between oldfashioned racism and the vote for a racially conservative candidate or White opposition to various racial policies. In fact, a number of scholars have argued that a newracism has supplanted the old-fashioned racism. Analysis of a survey of college students in the state of Mississippi reveals that old-fashioned racism provides the strongest explanation of White support for the Mississippi state flag. These findings are startling given the educational levels of the respondents.