Test of the Grapevine: An Empirical Examination of Conspiracy Theories Among African Americans

• NCJ Number: 177889
• Journal: Sociological Spectrum Volume: 19 Issue: 2 Dated: April-June 1999 Pages: 201-222
• Author(s): Sharon Parsons; William Simmons; Frankie Shinhoster; John Kilburn
• Date Published: 1999
• Length: 22 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This research examined the prevalence of beliefs in conspiracy theories held by African-Americans regarding government policies and practices toward African-American citizens.

Abstract

The data were collected in the spring of 1996 through a survey of parishioners of 35 Louisiana churches. The surveys were completed at a time when church burnings were well publicized, but reports of a Central Intelligence Agency drug distribution link were not widely present in the media. Overall, there was a strong belief in most conspiracy theories regarding government intentions toward African-Americans. More than 85 percent of the respondents "agreed" or "strongly agreed" that African-Americans are harassed by police because of their race and that the criminal justice system is not fair to African Americans. The theories with the least support involved transracial adoption, family planning, and needle-exchange programs as government strategies of genocide. Through factor analysis, the 11 conspiracy-theory questions were combined into conceptual scales. The theories reflected two distinct factors: malicious intent and benign neglect, with benign theories the more prevalent of the two. Unexpectedly, age, gender, and education were not significant in explaining beliefs in malicious intent or benign neglect conspiracy theories. Church attendance was not significantly related to support for malicious intent theories; whereas, it was negatively related to support for benign theories. The most important variable for explaining belief in conspiracies was the perceived involvement by African-Americans in government. Those who believed that African-Americans could influence the political process were less likely to believe in conspiracy theories. This finding suggests that such beliefs in conspiracy theories will not be reduced until African-Americans perceive that they have more of a role in government policy and operations. 5 tables and 39 references