Can success deflect racism? Clothing and perceptions of African American men

We examined the effect of different clothing styles on the perceptions of African American men. Using a between-group design, we tested whether participants perception of African American models wearing sweatpants and sweatshirts ("swagger"), clothing showing they won an event, or formal clothing, would vary. Participants (N = 143) viewed four African American models in one of three conditions. Multivariate analyses of covariance (MANCOVA) with Symbolic Racism Scale scores as a covariate revealed that participants rated models in Formal clothing significantly higher than models in winning clothing in intelligence