Racial Attitudes

Concepts, Trends, and Explanations

Prejudice

• Definition

• Components

• Determinants

• New Research on Racial Attitudes

Questions

• How would you define prejudice?

• What are some parts of prejudice?

• What factors are associated with being prejudiced?

Definition

A negative attitude toward an entire group of people, such as a racial or ethnic minority.

• Discrimination: behavior

• Homophobia

• Anti-Semitism

Components

• Cognitive

• Conative

• Affective (Emotions: difficult to study)

Cognitive Elements: Stereotyping

• College Student Perceptions:

• Thought Black Americans were lazy:

1932 1982 1993

75% 18% 5%

Thought Jewish Americans were shrewd

79% 15% ---

Devine and Elliot

• It is important to distinguish between stereotypes and personal beliefs

• Personal beliefs have improved

• Stereotypes persist

• Stereotypes can come into play even when they conflict with personal beliefs

Conative Elements: Social Distance

• Range: 1(marriage) - 7(exclude from U.S.)

Group Year

1926 1966 1991

Irish 1.30 1.40 1.30

Jews 2.39 1.97 1.84

Turks 3.30 2.48 2.23

Some Examples of Prejudice(with thanks to the

SPLC)

• Madison - Feb. 2, 2001Ying Vang, 23, Kao Vue, 24, and John Yang, 20, were convicted of battery as a hate crime for beating a black student at a local university

• Madison - Feb. 26, 2001A swastika, the word “die,” followed by a racial slur and the word “Jew,” were written at a local elementary school and targeted a fourth-grade teacher.

Examples, continued

• Madison - - Sept. 1, 2001Two white men allegedly used racist epithets and assaulted two Asian students. Adam Coplien, and Carl Elam-Bishop, both 21, were charged with substantial battery with intentional bodily harm, one felony and one misdemeanor charge of a hate crime and battery in connection with the incident

•

Examples, continued

• Madison - Nov. 6, 2001

Jeremy A. Giese, 21, was charged with a hate crime, criminal damage to property and disorderly conduct for allegedly smashing the window of a bar because Giese saw two men who appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent.

Determinants Of Prejudice

Individual Attributes• Sex• Education

• Age(Cohort Effect)• Income

Structural Factors• Region• Rural/Urban• Size of Group• Intensity of

Competition• Contact

– Common Goal– Equal Status

New Research on Racial Attitudes

James Kluegel, “Trends in Whites’ Explanations of the black/white gap in SES,” American Sociological Review 55 (1990): 512-526.

• Paradox in Racial Attitudes

• Explanations

Black Perceptions

Jaynes, Gerald D. and Robin M. Williams, Jr. (Eds), A Common Destiny: Blacks and American Society. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 1989.

• increasing skepticism

• distrust

• frustration

A Comprehensive Review

• Schuman, Howard, Charlotte Steeh, Lawrence Bobo, and Maria Krysan. 1997. Racial Attitudes in America: Trends and Interpretations. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.– The authoritative guide to racial attitudes;

thorough, careful, and complete.

Trends in White Attitudes

1. Strong and steady trend toward endorsement of equal treatment.

2. No trend in endorsement of policies to achieve equal treatment if they conflict with other values (e.g., neighborhood schools or merit).

3. Social distance varies depending on proportions of out-group involved.

White Trends, cont.

4. The majority of whites do not believe that discrimination is still a major factor.

5. Support for principles of equality varies directly with income, while support for affirmative action varies inversely with income.

6. Education continues to have its traditional liberalizing effects.

Black Trends

1. Blacks feel discrimination has declined, but still see it as a major problem in American society.

2. Blacks are much more supportive of affirmative action.

3. Blacks and whites agree in seeing the lack of educational opportunities as a barrier.

Black Trends, Cont.

4. Among blacks, the perception that current discrimination is a problem increases with education.

5. Since middle class blacks are subject to extra police attention, occasional rude treatment, and occasional insults based on race, they sometimes have trouble distinguishing between racial discrimination and plain rude behavior.

Conclusions

1. Blacks and whites agree on the principle of racial equality.

2. Blacks and whites disagree on the major causes of inequality.

3. We know very little about how groups other than blacks and whites view these issues.