Race and Equality of Opportunity: A Controlled Study

Abstract

E QUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY a cardinal value within the American culture, but an abundance of evidence suggests that it more of an ideal than a reality. Relevant research on education, occupation, income, and housing demonstrates the severely disadvantaged position of Negroes in the United States.' In their definitive work on the American occupational structure, Blau and Duncan conclude that the socioeconomic system is largely governed by universalistic criteria of performance and achievement, with the notable exception of the influence of race.2 These universalistic norms concerning achievement stem from an ideology that views them as functional prerequisites for an industrial society. An economic emphasis on rationality and efficiency tends to pervade other spheres of society with the result that impersonal standards of evaluation which are more universally applied come to replace particularistic criteria. Sociologists have noted the profound implications of this increasing universalism for the stratification system of a society.3 One consequence that a person's achieved status becomes more important than his ascribed status; greater values are accorded to what one does in terms of objective standards than what one inherits socially or biologically in the sense of family background, racial and ethnic identity, etc. Ideally, in such a system higher social status must be achieved through one's own accomplishments. Against this backdrop of equal opportunity and universalism, the continuing deprivation of Negroes remains an American dilemma. Numerous theories have been invoked to explain the anomalous position of the blacks. Biological interpretations have been largely replaced by more sociological explanations that are still controversial. Within recent years, three types of explanations have become prominent.4 The first type views