challenge
Monitoring how and why racially conservative groups form
challenge
Monitoring how and why racially conservative groups form
Measures of organizational strength, stability, and growth of conservative organizations reveals that they thrived relative to white extremist organizations in the second half of the 20th century, alongside the de-legitimation of explicit racism and rise of color-blind racism. This multivariate analysis indicates that metropolitan areas with increased political opportunities witness a greater likelihood of organizational formation among racial conservatives. In the 1970s, threats to dominant group interests emboldened racial conservatives and incited mobilization. However, in later decades, these conditions weakened dominant group interests in a way that deterred collective action. Racially conservative organizations are more likely to form in contexts that provide them with legitimacy to mobilize around racially sensitive issues.