Racial Attitudes: Summary of updates
Racial Attitudes in America: An Update1
Maria Krysan
University of Illinois at Chicago
Nakesha Faison
University of Michigan
WHITE RACIAL ATTITUDES
Principles, Implementation, and Affirmative Action
Tables: 3.1B, 3.2, 3.5A, 3.5B, 3.5B, Supplement2
Principles of Equality. One of the central conclusions from the survey record on racial attitudes is that in contemporary American society, whites are more likely to support the principle of racial equality than they are to support either the implementation of equality or policies that would take more affirmative steps to redress past or persistent discrimination. One of the most substantial changes in racial attitudes has, indeed, been the movement from very substantial opposition to the principle of racial equality to one of almost universal support. For example, in 1942, the vast majority (68 percent) of whites thought that whites and blacks should go to separate schools; in 1995, when the question was last asked, this had dropped to just 4 percent (Schuman et al. 1997).
What is noteworthy and revealing is that many of the survey questions that tap attitudes toward the principle of equality are no longer included on major national surveys; they have simply become universally accepted by whites. Interestingly, the only “principle” question that continues to be included in surveys is one about whether there should be laws against inter-racial marriage. In the mid-1990s, 13 percent of whites still supported such laws; by 2002, this had dropped only slightly to 10 percent—but both levels reflect considerable long-term change since in 1963, 62 percent of whites supported such a law (see Figure 1).
Figure 1. Trend in White Support for Laws Against Inter-Racial Marriage (NORC)
Implementation of Equal Treatment. The clear trend toward more liberal racial attitudes is not matched when the question becomes one of support for the implementation of the principle of equality. Whites are less willing to endorse action—at the local or federal level—to ensure the principle of equality than they are to support the abstract principle. Just three questions about implementation have been included on surveys since 1997 and they cover the arenas of schools, jobs, and housing.
In the first few years of the new century, whites have been asked about their support for the federal government’s role in ensuring that black and white children go to the same schools and that blacks are treated fairly in jobs. In the case of both of these questions, the highest levels of support for federal government intervention were in the late 1970s; since that time, if anything, outright support for government involvement has declined.
Figure 2. Trend in White Support for Federal Job Implementation (ISR)
In the case of both schools and jobs, in recent years, only about 1 out of 3 whites thought the government should “see to it” that blacks and whites are treated equally; but this does not reflect an increase in those saying the government should “stay out.” Rather, whites increasingly decline to state a position—instead indicating that they “have not been concerned or interested enough about it to favor one side over the other” (see Figure 2). The trend for this question may reflect a pattern of increasing “racial apathy” rather than increasing hostility toward federal government implementation (Forman 2004). Alternatively, whites may be increasingly using the “no interest” response as a way to avoid stating a clear position on the issue (Berinsky 1999). Social desirability pressures may lead white respondents to decline to answer, rather than give an answer that may be interpreted as racially conservative.
One additional analysis lends indirect and tentative support for this social desirability interpretation. The relationship between attitudes measured by the school implementation question and respondent’s level of education has changed over time. From 1962 to 1990, those with more education were significantly more likely to support the government’s role in ensuring integrated schools. But in 1992 and 2000 (but not 1994), the relationship between level of education and responses to this question became non-significant: in other words, those with more and less education did not differ in their attitudes. Moreover, in 2000, the modal response was “no interest” across all levels of education. Thus, the “no interest” response, which in previous years tended to be greater among those with less education, had now become equally likely at all levels of education. This reflects an increase in its use among those with higher levels of education. That the well-educated are increasingly giving this response may be a reflection of increasing social desirability pressures, which are typically thought to exist more strongly among those with higher levels of education (Krysan 1998).
