Race and Political Belief

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All the lines of contemporary research on American attitudes toward the issue of race converge in raising fundamental questions about the commitment of white Americans to the value of racial equality. In particular, skepticism about white racial attitudes raises two questions. First, how pliable is the commitment of Americans to the value of racial equality? Do Americans who support the value of racial equality at the level of principle stand behind it in practice? The second, concerns the issue of discrimination. To what extent do Americans remain likely not only to hold negative attitudes toward blacks, but also to treat them differently and worse than whites? These two questions were out of reach until just recently, since there was no way to study either directly in a conventional public opinion survey. A principle contribution of this research investigation is to develop and apply specific new methods for the direct assessment of racial discrimination and policy commitment. To assess discrimination the researchers ask all respondents about whether people are entitled to various forms of government assistance, with one half the time the person in need of assistance being black, the other half not black. The objective is to determine if there is more support for helping people who are not black than for helping people who are. It may be considered proof of discrimination if there is, since the question versions are identical except for one identifying the person in need of assistance as black and the other identifying him or her as not black, and since respondents, by virtue of being randomly assigned to question versions, are themsleves identical in all relevant respects, chance variations aside. To assess commitment to the value of racial equality, respondents are first asked their opinion about a racial policy proposal and once they have taken a position, they are presented with a counter argument. The test of commitment is the willingness to maintain a position even after hearing an argument for the other side. In addition to measuring discrimination and policy commitment, the investigators also measure an array of attitudinal and demographic variables, using standard measures to enhance the comparability of the data set. The aim is to be able to determine not only if there is racial discrimination, but what social conditions and social ideas are most effective in preventing it.