Back to the Black Belt: Racial Environment and White Racial Attitudes in the South

In this study, I look at the relationship of black population and white racial attitudes in the contemporary South. Merging county-level census data with individual-level N.E.S. data from the 1980s to create a variable tapping “racial environment,” I also use this study to test the validity of a gro...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of politics 1994-02, Vol.56 (1), p.21-41
Main Author: Glaser, James M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
African Americans
Attitudes
Black people
Coefficients
Conservatism
Liberalism
Minority & ethnic groups
Perceptions
Political Attitudes
Political parties
Politics
Prejudice
Prejudices
Racial conflict
Racial Relations
Racism
Social Attitudes
Southern States
United States, South
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Summary:In this study, I look at the relationship of black population and white racial attitudes in the contemporary South. Merging county-level census data with individual-level N.E.S. data from the 1980s to create a variable tapping “racial environment,” I also use this study to test the validity of a group conflict theory of racial-political attitudes. I find that racial environment has a strong and consistent effect on racial-political attitudes, but little-to-no effect on measures of prejudice. Moreover, this racial environment effect is pronounced among those most affected by black political progress (southern Democrats evaluating Jesse Jackson). Contrary to a symbolic racism approach to the study of racial-political attitudes, these three findings support the contention that threat, in the form of group conflict, influences political positions on racial issues.
ISSN:0022-3816
1468-2508
DOI:10.2307/2132344