Polarized White Attitudes Toward Black Lives: Did The Party Do It?

Abstract Among White Americans, have attitudes toward the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement become increasingly polarized between 2016 and 2020, and was that polarization sustained through 2024? This study conceptualizes BLM polarization as a growing divergence in attitudes toward the movement—both in overall evaluations and in widening gaps across key orientations such as partisanship, racial resentment, social dominance orientation (SDO), and authoritarianism. Building upon recent work on partisan polarization, I examine individual-level changes in racial attitudes toward BLM over an extended time period and determine if partisanship or other socio-psychological predispositions predict this change. Through the use of the American National Election Studies (ANES) 2016–2020–2024 panel data, I find that BLM polarization occurred from 2016 to 2020 and remained robust from 2020 to 2024. Racial resentment, SDO, and authoritarianism also served as important factors associated with BLM polarization, alongside party affiliation.