Racial Attitudes in America: Trends and Interpretations - Softcover

Schuman, Howard; Steeh, Charlotte; Bobo, Lawrence D.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0674745736 ISBN 13: 9780674745735

Publisher: Harvard University Press, 1988

Synopsis

This book traces changes in American attitudes toward racial issues that have taken place between the 1940s and the 1980s--a crucial period that encompasses the civil rights revolution, the growth of black militancy and white resistance, and the enactment of affirmative-action legislation.

The authors are the first to compare data about black and white attitudes collected by three major survey organizations: Gallup, the National Opinion Research Center, and the Institute for Social Research. They make careful distinctions between attitudes toward principles of racial equality and attitudes toward government action to implement those principles. The wide research base and methodological sophistication of their analysis yield conclusions quite different from those of earlier, more narrowly drawn studies. For example, they find that while there has been a striking increase in support for principles of equality and fairness, support for some kinds of implementation of these ideals lags far behind or has even declined among both blacks and whites. The implementation measures considered range from busing to achieve integration of schools to laws requiring equal opportunity in employment. In addition to reanalyzing survey data, the authors have also performed several innovative experiments on the wording and context of survey questions to help them interpret the data more accurately.

About this title

About the Author:

Howard Schuman is Professor of Sociology and Research Scientist, emeritus, at the University of Michigan’s Survey Research Center.

Review:

Schuman, Steeh, and Bobo have performed a singular service. Social scientists, and citizens at large, interested in the American dilemma are in their debt: for the completeness of the record they have compiled of American racial attitudes over the past four decades, for the care and clarity with which they have presented that record, and for the objectivity and sophistication with which they have interpreted it. Their analysis of American racial attitudes is, of course, not complete; it is merely indispensable. (Paul M. Sniderman American Journal of Sociology)

For anyone seeking to examine the evolution of American racial attitudes since the 1940s, this painstakingly precise book is the place to begin. (David J. Garrow Journal of American Ethnic History)

A welcome arrival...Informative and reflective, Racial Attitudes in America will be immensely useful to anyone interested in contemporary social history, as well as race relations specifically. (Abigail M. Thernstrom The Public Interest)

A significant study, easily the best in its field, underpinning its statistical analysis with a strong sense of history. (Andrew Hacker The New York Review of Books)

About this edition

• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Publication date: 1988
• ISBN 10: 0674745736
• ISBN 13: 9780674745735
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 274