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CHAPTER VII
CONCLUSION
This project illustrated that race and degree of proximity do in fact influence perception and that race is not the only variable one should study. Degree of proximity provided some measure of response variation and should be included in future research. Social scientists studying race relations will continue to ask if blacks and whites perceive differently but this study has shown that the answer depends on the topic. Blacks and whites do differ on some things but agree on others. Blacks and white students agreed when judging black attitudes or white population estimates but differed when rating white attitudes or estimating the black population. Both groups also showed that changing the degree of proximity affected responses to particular questions and that degree of proximity as a variable explained more of the total variance than race on many occasions. Lastly, the students used in this research project were very pessimistic on most issues.
The synthesizing of the ecological model with the works of Allport and Schutz, helped one understand why people categorize and detect what they do. The ecological model provided a base to show that people can detect different realities. Allport stated that people categorized in predictable ways while Schutz illustrated that people acquire knowledge in specific ways. These specific ways influence categorization and detection which people use to make sense of the world around them. Depending on one’s social position and the type of relation one encounters, their stocks of knowledge will then dictate how they will see a situation.
The results of this project also show that one should be careful in the interpretations of national opinion polls because locale was shown to influence perceptions. The information within national polls commonly documents the worst feelings people have of that particular situation. Most of the time, national polls only ask questions about national issues. If asked to rate their communities, a different response might be obtained. Since people are using the most rigorous and stringent typifications when addressing the national environment, the results will indicate people feel very pessimistic. In other words, people will consistently rate the national environment as being the worst regardless of the issue. This problem becomes very important when people are then asked to rate conditions in America without any reference to their communities. An hypothetical example is when people state the country is "going down the drain" yet when asked about their personal lives, people feel satisfied with their lives and family. Things might not be as bad as people believe but when they see a poll indicating negative feelings held by the general public, it reinforces people’s beliefs that the nation is in bad shape. A good example deals with the issue of crime. In Table 8, people rated crime as not a problem in their community but a major problem in the nation. In the U.S., the rate of violent crime has steadily been going down each year but people still feel it is a major problem. It can all be traced to an increase in crime reporting by local news stations, even when the crime has nothing to do with their community.
As evidenced in the estimations of racial populations, people will rate the farther environment very harshly, to the point of exaggeration, even if it is not based on reality. People believed blacks made up 30 percent of the U.S. population. Is it true? No. Does this misperception have consequences? Yes. Political figures have commonly used misperceptions to further political agendas by relying on poll data to illustrate citizens are thinking a particular way. Another example is with education. Again, in Table 8, many people rated their community schools as better than one’s in the country. There is a huge cry to fix the schools. But when someone actually attempts to do it, people claim they should fix someone else’s school, not theirs. Their school is fine, it is the other schools outside their neighborhood that need fixing.
Recommendations for Future Research
Some ideas for future research would include finding if blacks on black campuses respond the same way as whites on white campuses do when dealing with the estimations of racial populations. It could then be expanded to other populations to document whether majority groups always overestimate the minority population and underestimate the majority populations. Groups who represent the minority population overall but who are majorities within particular contexts would provide a good test to see how much being in the majority/minority position influences one’s perceptions. For example, at historically black or female schools or in strong Hispanic communities like Miami, do these groups feel opportunities are fair and equal within their local context but unequal outside their strongholds? Would they respond as whites do now when they are the majority group? Would whites, who in these contexts would be in the minority group, tend to respond like classical minority group members?
Second, many polls which measure attitudes document that whites feel other whites hold prejudicial views. Yet, when asked if racism or discrimination exists, whites will say no. They will say opportunities are fair and equal. Yet they believe other whites are prejudice while living in a white dominated society. How do they explain this contradiction. As hypothesized earlier, whites might claim other whites are prejudice but that they do not discriminate. Many studies have tried to find the link between attitudes and behavior and more work is needed in this area. For example, in Table 6 regarding equality of police treatment, a majority of white respondents (45%) said the police do not treat blacks and whites fairly. What do these respondents attribute the unfair treatment to? Unfair treatment is an action and can be labeled as discrimination.
Two polls were recently released which concluded that whites and blacks perceive differently. The Gallup Organization and the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies are reputable organizations who conduct public opinion polls with very large samples. Both polls used discrete categories with some questions which do not allow for the measurement of different degrees of response like a continuous scale would. To their credit, these polls have recently started to address the notion that degree of proximity does play a factor but they have not noted how much an influence it has. They have also asked where people get their information from.
Both polls used race as a main variable. The national media generally only reported the racial findings since it happened to precede the start of a major presidential initiative on race relations in America at that time. But when one received the actual report, they also reported on other variables such as age or income. The media did not address these other issues (and neither did the organizations in their press conferences). Future research should review these results and document how much race accounts in explaining the total amount of variability.
Replication of this experiment is needed to see if the results are generalizable to the entire population as well as if it the study is valid. When comparing these results to other polls, many of the results were similar. Other variables also need to be looked at. The Joint Center poll found that "black-white differences in perceptions and attitudes toward race issues are compounded by other significant differences - generational, regional, ideological, partisan, and gender - found within both the African-American and white populations" (Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies 1997:2). More research should go into finding what variables explain why people perceive certain ways. Researchers should not be constrained in their search for new variables because of the importance many have heaped on the concept of race.
The results of this study indicate it is imperative that academia and the media understand the complexity of perceptions and how race alone does not explain everything. If the media and academia continue to believe that knowing a person’s race will predict how they will respond, the vicious cycle stated earlier will not disappear. People have always looked to academia for explanations in understanding and solving problems. People must also comprehend that blacks and whites will continue to disagree as long as the incidents like Texaco’s, Denny’s and Simi Valley occur. When government statistics continue to showcase an economic and social divide which effects each group in different ways, racial differences in perceptions will appear. The perceptions will mirror the different social realities.
Finally, the United States is no longer primarily a two race nation. It has become the world’s first truly multiracial nation. The study of race relations now must account for the growing Hispanic and Asian populations. Even though, black-white relations are still a sore spot for many, the ever changing demographics indicate more research should incorporate all racial and ethnic groups. It will be interesting to see if Schutz’s theory still applies, especially considering his view that language is very important. Black and white Americans both use English as a common language. The same cannot be said of many incoming Asians and especially Hispanics. Will a new common language have to be developed so that each person understands what the other is saying? Will objects or events relevant for Hispanics also be relevant for black or white Americans? Will Hispanics become the new disliked group, replacing blacks, since they will soon become the second largest minority group in America? Only time will tell.
To conclude, it seems as long as inequality and mistreatment continue to exist, perceptions will be different. We continue to be surprised that there are differences between blacks and whites, I think we should be surprised that there are similarities.
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