1 Samson Woo Professor Cho POL348.

01 13 May 2013 Final Paper Assignment In the 1972 ad McGovern Welfare, Presidential candidate Richard Nixon utilized implicit racial cues through his political advertisement to mobilize support among the American electorate on welfare reform (Livingroomcandidate.org). In this ad, Nixon focuses heavily on the use of stereotypical characteristics portrayed by the average white American electorate. In activating the use of these stereotypes in his political advertisement, Nixon sought to use implicit racial cues to garner support against welfare spending. In order to first determine if the McGovern Welfare ad falls into the category of using implicit racial appeals, we must first turn to The Race Card by Tali Mendelberg. In The Race Card, Mendelberg states that implicit racial appeals discuss a nonracial matter and avoid a direct reference to black inferiority or to white group interest (9). Mendelberg goes on to say that implicit racial appeals forego professions of racial antipathy and do not endorse segregation or white prerogatives and that in an implicit racial appeal, the racial message appears to be so coincidental and peripheral that many of its recipients are not aware that it is there (9). In the McGovern Welfare ad, Nixon makes no direct, explicit mention of race as a subject of the ads content. The primary explicit message contained in the ad strictly touches on how the American electorate will be affected by the McGovern welfare plan, and who is to suffer should it be passed. As a result, under Mendelbergs definition of an explicit racial message, that such a message uses such words as blacks, race, or racial, to represent racial stereotype to express anti-black sentiment or to make racially stereotypical or derogatory statements, Nixons McGovern Welfare ad does not qualify as using explicit racial cues (8). The ad however, does

2 qualify under an implicit racial appeal as it presents an ostensibly race-free conservative position on an issue while incidentally alluding to racial stereotypes or to a perceived threat from African Americans (Mendelberg, 9). While there is no outright explicit mention of race in the McGovern Welfare ad, there is an inherently underlying use of implicit racial cues that seeks to gather increasing support against welfare among the white American electorate. In the ad, Nixon strategically subjects the viewer to the stereotype of the average white American male who appears hard-working and responsible for their actions. In order to strengthen the stereotype surrounding white Americans that they are not the primary recipients of welfare, Nixon claims the McGovern bill would make every other person in the country eligible for welfare. Nixon goes on to appeal to the white American stereotype by stating that if they are not the one of two people on welfare, they would be the one to shoulder the tax burden of implementing such a program. Ironically, although political elites typically use race-neutral language in discussing poverty and welfare, it is now widely believed that welfare is a race-coded topic that evokes racial imagery and attitudes even when racial minorities are not explicitly mentioned (Gilens, 67). According to Gilens, there is a strong discord in the American mindset which overwhelmingly perceives blacks as the primary minority set most associated with welfare and poverty (69). In a survey question regarding the racial composition of welfare recipients, 35% of respondents chose white people were more likely to be on welfare than non-white people. However, when asked specifically which welfare recipients were black, Hispanic, Asian, or American Indian, an overwhelming number of respondents chose that 68% of welfare recipients are black (Gilens, 69-71). Gilens goes on to say that not only do Americans perceive blacks as numerically the most important minority group among welfare recipients, but Americans

3 attitudes toward welfare are far more strongly influenced by perceptions of black than by perceptions of other racial or ethnic groups (71). Since the McGovern Welfare ad makes no direct explicit mention of race in any regard, by portraying white Americans as the stereotypically harder-working superior race, Americans (and especially white people) will be more inclined to use these images to draw on their perception that black people are generally the main recipients of welfare. As a result of the ad appealing directly to this subconscious perception, white Americans who typically see themselves as hardworking will make the connection that if they are not the one of two people receiving welfare, the other person must be black, as black people are generally the poorest and biggest recipients of welfare and widely believed as being lazy, uncommitted, and are from a less-able race. The belief that blacks are of a less-able race is briefly noted by Gilens as he cites a survey conducted by the National Election Survey in 1986. While the survey results do not correlate with a widely accepted belief that blacks are inferior, Gilens notes that as innate racial inferiority is socially unacceptable in many circles, the number of people who hold these beliefs in undoubtedly larger than the number that are willing to express them on surveys (75). However, the mere fact that a belief that blacks are naturally less-able exists also demonstrates that the boundaries of stereotypes do not end with personal characters describable by adjectives, but by a belief that blacks are already at a natural disadvantage. The likelihood that Nixons political advertisement utilizes implicit racial cues is strongly supported by Gilens research on the American misconception and misperception that black people make up the majority of the welfare state. Even in places where poor blacks are virtually absent, white perceive the nations poor as a whole to be made up largely of African Americans (Gilens, 137). The existence of this strong misconception is further supported through surveys

4 conducted by Gilens, through the results of these surveys Gilens also uncovered that the perception does not differ between blacks and whites; 52% percent of blacks and 55% of whites said that most poor people are black (138). In addition to the exaggeration of the proportion of blacks amongst the poor, there is also a large exaggeration of the proportion of blacks amongst the American population as a whole. In a survey conducted by the Washington Post, when asked to guess the percentage of African Americans in the U.S. population, the average response for whites was 23%, and 25% for black respondents (Gilens, 138). Interestingly enough, it was concluded that these misperceptions of racial composition in America between the poor and blacks had very little to do with the racial composition of an individuals environment. Whites living in the District of Columbia or one of seven states where African Americans comprise of over 20% of the population guessed 25% of the entire American population was black, but whites living in the nine states in which the African American population consisted less than 1% of the population guessed that blacks account for 23% of the American population (Gilens, 138). Keeping these extremely disproportionate exaggerations in mind while viewing the McGovern Welfare ad, there is a strong possible correlation that viewers would be effected by the implicit racial cues found in the ad and force themselves to subconsciously activate stereotypes of the welfare state. Since a large overwhelming number of whites have a misconception of the number of poor blacks and blacks in the American population, it is highly possible that white American viewers of the McGovern Welfare ad would also succumb into their personal misconceptions about the one of two welfare recipients being non-white, non-hardworking, poor black people that the viewer must shoulder the tax burden for. While the stereotype of the lazy, uncommitted black person is activated implicitly by the McGovern Welfare ad, there are also additional emotional appeals and racial predispositions

5 that contribute to the activation of these stereotypes in an implicit racial cue. An implicit appeal is less likely to be perceived as having violated the norm of racial equality. It is likely to be perceived not as a statement that derogates blacks or suggests a threat from blacks, but rather as a message that includes race only incidentally and neutrally (Mendelberg, 20). In the McGovern ad, the implicit appeal being made has no explicit value that serves directly bad-mouth blacks or suggest that they are the reason why the welfare state has grown to such extremes, even though it is implied. However, racial dispositions carried by the white American viewer allows for them to draw on the stereotype that blacks are lazy and uncommitted, and thus be affected by the implicit racial cue set forth by Nixons ad. The cynicism that white Americans express toward welfare recipients is fed by their belief that blacks lack a commitment to work, in combination with their exaggerated impressions of the extent to which African Americans populate the countrys welfare rolls (Gilens, 173). Despite racial equality becoming more and more accepted as a social norm, white people still hold a strong disposition or resentment towards black people. Compared with the more socially minded Europeans, Americans are thought to place a higher value on self-reliance and individual initiative and to recoil from the idea of government responsibility for individuals well-being (Gilens, 32). As white Americans hold their independent and self-sufficiency as a highly regarded and admirable characteristic trait, white viewers who see the McGovern ad would probably draw the conclusion that the only people who are not self-sufficient and require government assistance would be their black counterparts, who whites often think of as lazy or violent. This animosity and racial predisposition that white people hold against blacks is strongly supported by the 1990 General Social Survey, which included a series of items asking for sevenpoint ratings of various social groups on several trait dimensions which concluded that: most

6 whites believe that whites have more positive characteristics than blacks. This is particularly true of the long-standing stereotypes of violence, laziness, and most of all, lack of economic selfsufficiency (Mendelberg, 116). As a result, despite the levels of growing social acceptance in regards to racial equality, there is still a sort of racial resentment that white Americans subconsciously draw back on when it comes to work ethic and government assistance. As Mendelberg states, racial resentment is among the most powerful determinants of opinion on racial matters, ranging from [.], to spending on government programs that aid blacks (118). Thus, with racial resentment in the mind of a white viewer, the McGovern ad forcibly reactivates this resentment in individuals, as the resentment determines whether or not they would like to shoulder the tax burden that funds aid for people that they consider lazy because the individual themselves do not need the welfare. While racial predispositions will affect the political decision making of hard-working white people as they view the McGovern ad, the depth to which they are effected by the implicit cues found in the ad are also important in determining how the stereotypes are activated in individuals. As mentioned previously, racial equality has grown into becoming a social norm that is acceptable, and to an opponent of racial equality deems the action of the individual as socially unacceptable. As social norms against racial bigotry have grown over the past decades, some observers have come to believe that at least some of the apparent decline in antiblack prejudice is nothing more than a decrease in the willingness of whites to acknowledge their antiblack attitudes on surveys (Gilens, 197). Despite this, white people will still hold onto racial predispositions they have about blacks, and attempt to avoid discriminating blacks in order to maintain their socially acceptable self-image. Whites not only manage not to discriminate only as long as the discrimination seems like discrimination. When the discrimination seems like

7 something else, it is much more likely to happen (Mendelberg, 119). Whites will only discriminate against a black individual when the discrimination seems to be nonracialthus, in the strong normative condition it is difficult to refuse to help a black person without seeming racist. In the weak condition it is possible to help a black person without seeming to be biased by race, since these is a nonracial reason to refuse the help does not seem justified (Mendelberg, 119). In the McGovern welfare ad, since race is explicitly a neutral factor there is no direct mention or outright remark of racism towards black people, a white person can easily refuse to help shoulder the tax burden because the reason is now nonracial. The ad is strategically created so that it addresses the topic of welfare to the public in a non-racial manner. As a result, if white viewers feel that they should not shoulder the tax burden it is because they do not feel compelled to help those in poverty, or because they feel that they do not benefit from contributing to the accessibility of welfare funds for themselves, in other words, they do not directly benefit from putting extra money into welfare. The racial component of white opposition to welfare seems to reflect the most important nonracial basis of welfare opposition: the perception that recipients are undeserving (Gilens, 173). By creating an ad that forces discrimination to be nonracial, the viewers will be able to justify their reason for not wanting to expand welfare funds as nondiscriminatory because they are not outright being racist, even if they have the predisposition that blacks are lazy and take up the majority of welfare recipients. Finally, in determining if the activation of stereotypes in political advertisements is an implicit racial cue, we must look to the role of automaticity in the political decision making of the American electorate. As defined by Brader, automaticity is the way that stimuli are perceived and emotions are triggered automatically, prior to activation of the cognitive faculties

8 that allow us to contextualize and reappraise a situation (65). In the McGovern ad, Nixon claims that under his opponents bill, 47% or approximately one in every two people, would be eligible for welfare under his law. Under automaticity, the average hard-working white American viewing this ad would consider immediately that they themselves are the hard-working individual, and since the recipient of welfare, the other half, is not hard-working, there is large likelihood that the recipient is black. This immediate stereotype and conclusion is strongly supported by the huge misperception of poor blacks and the total blacks in the American population that white people have, and their strong belief that blacks are stereotyped to being lazier and irresponsible. This conclusion drawn by an average white American viewing the McGovern welfare ad is extremely plausible, as 74% of Americans place the responsibility of their own being on themselves instead of the government, and 96% believe that people should take every opportunity to improve themselves rather than expect help from the government (Gilens, 34). Since the viewer of the McGovern ad is likely to believe that they are the hardworking American that will shoulder the burden of paying for welfare program and believes that success is left to the individual, they can immediately utilize their personal racial predispositions against blacks and form the opinion that blacks require government assistance due to their lackadaisical work ethic. The ability to imagine ourselves in the situations we are watching and identify with characters also enhances the emotional impact by narrowing our perceptual focus to the action on the screen instead of the larger context of our viewing experience (Brader, 65). As defined by Brader, automaticity is how stimuli are perceived and how emotions are triggered automatically prior to an individual cognitively identifying the situation beyond our initial judgment. Just as our brains develop associations like sharks being threats, the white American viewing the McGovern welfare ad may quickly develop the association that welfare is

9 only (or a majority) is for black people. As a result of automaticity, an individuals basis for their political actions are quickly made without deeper contextualization being made in order to bring light to a situation. Whether or not the statement that 47% of Americans would qualify for welfare under McGoverns plan is true, false, or simply an exaggeration as a result of politics, rather than assume that the welfare is to be used by black people, the alarming proportion of the population needing welfare is much more important. If 47% of the American population required welfare, this indicates a severe socioeconomic problem that the country not a single race- is facing, and should be an indication that the American people not just black people are in dire need for government assistance. Between 80 to 90% of Americans support government help for the poor, believe that the government must be involved in combating poverty, and favor the government helping people who are unable to help themselves, and about 70% say the government has a responsibility to take care of the poor and to guarantee every citizen enough to eat and a place to sleep (Gilens, 37). Despite the overwhelming support for government assistance for the poor, the racial predispositions Americans have while viewing political ads will cause them to change their mind about helping the American public. This is because the target recipient of welfare goes from the true genuine nature of helping the poor and needy, to a racially prejudiced opinion that welfare is only designed to help lazy black people who refuse to take responsibility for their own well-being. Ironically, Americans will accept taxes that they perceive as contributions toward public programs in which there is a direct stake for themselves, their families, and their friends, not just the poor (Gilens, 42). However, because of the quick judgments made by Americans through automaticity, racial predispositions and initial judgments on welfare issues directly correlate welfare with lazy blacks needing government assistance, and not that the viewers friends or family may potentially be in need of welfare themselves. Thus, as

10 a result of automaticity, a white American viewer will act on their predispositions and continue to vote against welfare spending simply because they believe black people to be the primary recipients of welfare, and not simply because there is a legitimate need for welfare due to failing socioeconomic conditions of the country, rising unemployment, and increasing poverty. In conclusion, activation of stereotypes depicting welfare recipients as lazy and undeserving in political advertisements are strong, concrete examples of implicit racial cues used to mobilize support amongst the American electorate.

11 Works Cited 1. 1972 Nixon v. McGovern: McGovern Welfare. LivingRoomCandidate. Museum of the Moving Image, n.d. Web. 10 May 2013. <http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1972> 2. Brader, Ted. Campaigning for hearts and minds: How emotional appeals in political ads work. University of Chicago Press, 2006. 3. Gilens, Martin. Why Americans hate welfare: Race, media, and the politics of antipoverty policy. University of Chicago Press, 2009. 4. Mendelberg, Tali. The race card: Campaign strategy, implicit messages, and the norm of equality. Princeton University Press, 2001.