In 1962, 85 percent of white Americans told Gallup that black children had as good a chance as white kids of getting a good education. The next year, in another Gallup survey, almost half of whites said that blacks had just as good a chance as whites of getting a job.

    In retrospect, we can see that these white beliefs were delusional, and in other survey questions whites blithely acknowledged racist attitudes. In 1963, 45 percent said that they would object if a family member invited a black person home to dinner.

    My hunch is that we will likewise look back and conclude that today’s calls for racial justice, if anything, understate the problem — and that white America, however well meaning, is astonishingly oblivious to pervasive inequity.


wasoxygen:

    In 1962, 85 percent of white Americans told Gallup that black children had as good a chance as white kids of getting a good education.

The question asked was "In general, do you think that black children have as good a chance as white children in your community to get a good education, or don't you think they have as good a chance?"

The phrase "in your community" suggests that it might be possible to answer "yes" without being delusional about nationwide patterns (such as black people being more likely to live in poor school districts). The question about jobs also includes this phrase.

I can't find the question about dinner.


posted 2837 days ago