A second unanswered question regarding the social implications of our findings is how far backdoor effects will reach, in terms of the range of attitudes, behaviors, and policies affected. Duster (2003a) suggests that messages about genetically based racial differences, and the beliefs in racial difference that they engender, may lead to such broad policy outcomes as diminishment of funding for health, education, and social programs that serve African Americans and exclusion of blacks from certain occupations. Such far-ranging consequences are certainly supported by theory. Omi and Winant (1994) argue that essentialist categories of race create and reproduce structures of domination. Feagin (2001) argues that belief in racial difference legitimates discrimination. Social psychologists (Brewer and Brown 1998) consider social categorization to be at the heart of prejudice and discrimination. Link and Phelan (2001) propose that changes in any component of stigma likely affect others, reinforcing the overall impact of stigma-related processes. More specific to the questions addressed in this article, Condit and Bates (2005) proposed a conceptual model in which messages linking genes, race, and health lead to perceived racial difference,
