Confederate Monuments and Anti-Black Stereotypes in the US South

I advance understanding of Confederate monuments through a large-scale examination of the linkage between individual racial attitudes and the presence of a Confederate monument on public property with a "Lost Cause" inscription. I rely on restricted access General Social Survey data (2010-2014) and an extensive inventory of Confederate monuments located in counties across the U.S. South. The focal outcome provides insight into expressions of anti-Black stereotypes among non-Hispanic Whites; however, I include sensitivity analyses to provide context for this central dynamic. I find evidence of a relationship between Confederate monuments and greater anti-Black racial attitudes among non-Hispanic Whites. However, this result is confined to anti-Black stereotypes; no other outcome-regarding Black, Asian, or Hispanic Americans-exhibits a robust, direct relationship with the presence of a Confederate monument. I argue the observed relationship is driven by racialized cultural frames emphasizing the Black-White boundary that are linked to Confederate monuments with a "Lost Cause" inscription.