Leisure Spaces as Potential Sites for Interracial Interaction: Community Gardens in Urban Areas

Abstract

Finding ways to alleviate racial tension is an important societal issue. A well-established strategy is to increase positive contact between members of different racial groups, which is hypothesized to lead to improved racial attitudes if the contact takes place under certain conditions. Bridging racial divides, however, has historically been a difficult process. Leisure settings can be ideal environments for interracial interaction to occur due to qualities of free choice and self-determination. This study focuses on a specific type of leisure environment, community gardens located in urban settings. More specifically, the purpose of the study was to examine whether urban community gardens are perceived as spaces in which people of different races can successfully integrate. The study also sought to examine race and its relationship to perceptions, motivations, and benefits of community gardening. The study focused on African American and White gardeners in St. Louis.