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Justice: The Racial Motive We All Have and Need

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 January 2021

David C. Wilson
David C. Wilson*
Affiliation:
University of Delaware
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: David C. Wilson, Political Science & International Relations, University of Delaware, Political Science, 1 Celtic St, Bear, 19701, DE, USA. E-mail: dcwilson@udel.edu
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Abstract

This essay posits that justice is the core value epitomizing our moment. Justice is violated when positive outcomes are undeserved, and the felt sense of injustice motivates a need for retribution. Because politics involves allocation (distribution and redistribution), deservingness is a core appraisal of “who gets what” and therefore justice is fundamental for politics. This is especially germane to race, ethnicity, and politics scholars. I present a few core tenets of justice theory, and argue that political science can take advantage of the moment to engage the concept of justice; especially as it relates to the study of racial attitudes and the identification of racial enablers—those ostensible non-racists who facilitate the status quo. Summarily, I propose that justice can unify debates over prejudice and politics, and advance our scholarly understanding of how well-intentioned people—regardless of their identities, or ideological or partisan labels—can facilitate racism, racial inequality, and injustice.

Keywords

Racial Justicejust-world beliefsracial resentmentdeservingracial politics
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics , Volume 6 , Issue 1 , March 2021 , pp. 56 - 70
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Race, Ethnicity, and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association

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