Race, Class, and Consciousness

Abstract

Past studies reveal weakness in their analyses of class and race consciousness. They fail, for example, to separate out the effects of race and class on components of race and class consciousness. This study discusses the roles of class and race in developing class and race consciousness and interest in politics. It emphasizes the need to clarify the roles of race and class as well as those of age and size of birthplace in each type of consciousness. The main findings show that race and class are sometimes differently related to these dimensions, and suggest that the colony model of American society for which race is decisive is more complete than the class model of race relations, although both are similar.