Demographic and Attitudinal Differences between Negro and White Neighbors

Abstract

This study quantified a number of racial discrepancies which are relevant and germane to any organized attempt at neighborhood integration, as such discrepancies could only complicate or impede the integrative process if left unattended. Data were collected by conducting personal interviews with 240 Negro and 249 white women living in transition areas. Median education for Negro and white respondents was identical—although the latter tended to be less well-educated than their husbands, whereas, if anything, the reverse was true among Negroes. White women were less often employed than Negro women—and the former had fewer children, despite the fact that, as a group, they were older than the latter. Negroes were better satisfied with the area than were whites as well as more optimistic about future property values. Relatedly, there was evidence of agitation by real estate firms attempting to “panic” residents (especially whites) into selling their homes. Finally, whites were substantially more conservative in their thinking than Negroes—at least where one major issue (viz., campus unrest) was concerned.