The effect of childhood interracial contact on adult antiblack prejudice

Abstract

Since the mid-1950s, and through both formal and informal means, American government has strived to promote tolerance and equality between races. Among the most obvious of these strategies have been policies and laws promoting desegregation in schools, neighborhoods, and elsewhere. Designed to provide equal access to education and shelter, they also allowed greater interracial contact in a sanction-free environment, ostensibly with the goal of promoting greater racial tolerance. It was believed that equal-status contact, particularly during the formative years, would engender more positive racial attitudes among young persons that would endure into adulthood. We test this assumption on 292 white adults participating in the 1991 Oklahoma City Survey. Findings show that childhood interracial contact in schools and neighborhoods not only disconfirms negative racial stereotypes, but has a direct, significant effect on levels of adult antiblack prejudice even controlling for other relevant factors. Results suggest continued support for the desegregation of American schools and neighborhoods as a means of promoting more positive racial attitudes through interracial contact.