A Half Century of Persistence and Change in Racial Attitudes at the University of Alabama

• In Event: 123 - Section on Social Psychology Refereed Roundtable Session (co-sponsored with Section on Sociology of Emotions and Section on Sociology of Mental Health).
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 01. Prejudicial Attitudes

Abstract

This study is a unique examination of racial attitudes among young white adults in the Deep South during a 50 year period. Repeated surveys of University of Alabama students in 1963, 1966, 1969, 1972, 1983, 1988, and 2013, measured support for segregation, social distance, racial stereotypes, and in the 2013 study, racial resentment and support for ameliorative racial policies. Analyses show that in the 1960s, whites’ endorsement of racial stereotypes was a powerful predictor of social distance preferences and support for racial segregation. In the late 60s and early 70s, racial integration became a reality and, paralleling broad trends in U. S. society, preferences for social distance and endorsement of racial stereotypes declined. Simultaneously, threats to whites’ position in the form of ameliorative racial policies (including affirmative action) emerged along with new forms of racial prejudice such as racial resentment. By 2013, racial resentment, rather than racial stereotyping was the primary determinant of whites’ opposition to racial change, but racial stereotyping remained an important predictor of social distance. In showing that racial prejudice is a strong predictor of policies undergirding whites’ dominant position regardless of changes in the nature of whites’ structural position and the content of their attitudes, our findings strongly support Herbert Blumer’s (1958) argument that racial prejudice exists in a sense of group position, and that it functions to preserve the integrity and the position of the dominant group.

Authors

• Michael Hughes, Virginia Tech

• Richard Fording, University of Alabama

• Lo Celia C., Texas Woman's University

• Debra McCallum, University of Alabama

• Utz McKnight, University of Alabama

• Gabrielle P. A. Smith, University of Alabama

• Steven A. Tuch, The George Washington University