The White View of Black America: Three Forms of Prejudice

Abstract This paper examines the contemporary racial attitudes of white American adults towards black Americans, using data from the General Social Surveys and classifies these attitudes using latent class analysis. The purpose of the analysis is to resolve ongoing debates between (a) those who contend that overt forms of racism have largely been replaced by more socially acceptable forms of racism, and (b) those who contend that overt forms of racism are still so strong in the United States that even the survey form can successfully detect them. Consistent with the second of these two views, a full 55.6 percent of the population adopts a pattern of responses consistent with deeply essentialist accounts of racial inequality.