Acceptance of International Students: Host and Sojourner Characteristics

This study was designed to investigate how both characteristics of the sojourner and of the host affect how American students regard and treat international students in the United States. Undergraduates (N=198) evaluated college admission applications. All applicant information was held constant except for gender, race, and nationality. After they completed a questionnaire evaluating the foreign applicant, they volunteered to offer various levels of hospitality to foreign students. In terms of host characteristics, the results indicate that women were more favorable than men in their ratings of foreign students, and Minorities (48% of the sample) were more favorable than Whites in their volunteerism. Regarding characteristics of the foreigner, American students responded equally to male and female foreigners; equally to White and Black foreigners; but they evaluated Canadian foreigners more favorably than Algerian ones. There was an interaction between gender of the host and foreigner in a few instances, and several instances of an interaction between race of the host and race of the foreigner. These results partially support the hypotheses and suggest that what makes a difference in how Americans respond to foreigners is cultural similarity and shared ethnic minority status.     

The racial canons of American sociology: Identity across the lifespan as biracial alternative

The utilization of racial canons in American sociology has dictated traditional models of identity. Biracial Americans are consistently identified based upon the presumed race category of their African heritage. The result is that biracial Americans are ambiguous pertaining to racial identity without consideration of their lifespan experience, i.e.: social, cultural, and familial. To enable a more applicable model of identity will require that sociologists terminale the use of racial canons as a dictate of identity. Accordingly, development across the lifespan is heretofore both commensurate with biracial identity and the unique biracial experience. He has published numerous articles on the subject of race identity issues and is currently working on a book Beyond Black and White: Racism Among People of Color.     

NIS interpretations: Race and the National Incidence Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect

The National Incidence Studies (NIS) of Child Abuse and Neglect are the primary estimates of actual child maltreatment rates in the United States. Findings from the NIS-2 of 1986, and the NIS-3, of 1993, have been presented as demonstrating that Blacks and Whites are maltreated at equal rates. The NIS-4, using 2006 data, was presented as showing markedly different findings from the prior NIS studies with regard to race. A supplementary NIS-4 report on race argued that differences between the NIS-3 and NIS-4 were due to better precision and an expanding income gap between Blacks and Whites between 1993 and 2006. This paper will demonstrate that the NIS-2 and NIS-3 did not, as is commonly believed, show equivalence between Black and White maltreatment rates and that the NIS-2, NIS-3 and NIS-4 do not differ markedly in their racial findings. Further, the large historical increase in the Black/White income gap cited in the NIS-4 race supplement derives from a simple failure to account for inflation. If left unaddressed, misinterpretations of NIS data will continue to misinform policy, cloud the issue of racial bias in the child welfare system and obscure the ongoing role of concentrated poverty in driving racial disproportionality.     

(Re)theorizing civic engagement: Foundations for Black Americans civic engagement theory

Commonly known as “civic engagement,” getting involved within communities in a formalized way has served a foundational role in the development of the United States. Missing from foundational conceptualizations of analyses is theoretical and empirical research that does not center White people and experiences. In this article, I argue that researchers need to incorporate an understanding of Black American's relationship with civic engagement to increase the accuracy of literature on civic engagement. Toward this goal, I first outline the foundational conceptualizations of civic engagement. I next discuss the limitations of civic engagement theories with a focus on data sources and the exclusion of non‐White persons within foundational texts. I then highlight the historical civic activities of Black Americans that has been foregrounded in research on Black voluntary associations. This project pushes for a discussion on the relationship between civic engagement and race with a focus on Black Americans that is relevant to sociological understandings of civil society. I conclude by discussing how filling this gap has a far‐reaching impact in the field of collective behavior and social movements.     

Intergroup marriage: an examination of opportunity structures

Though a number of authors have noted the increase in interracial marriages in the United States over the past few decades, few researchers have systematically examined variables that affect the opportunity for intergroup marriage among several different groups: Whites, African Americans, Asians, and Hispanics. In this paper we examine several "opportunity" variables and their relationship to intergroup marriage for couples age 40 or younger: immigration, military service, metropolitan residency, age, region, college attendance, and socioeconomic status. We examine these relationships for African, White, Asian, and Hispanic Americans. Results for both males and females are presented. The analysis is based on data from the 1990 census. The propensity to marry within one's own group dropped slightly for all groups but Asian Americans from 1980 to 1990. White and Black Americans continue to have the highest endogamy rates. Hispanic and Asian Americans have lower rates, and regional variations are highest for them as well. The results suggest that the opportunity variables are important factors affecting rates of intergroup marriage.     

Race/Ethnic Differences in the Marital Expectations of Adolescents: The Role of Romantic Relationships

I use a sample of 12,973 adolescents in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) to examine race/ethnic differences in perception of the likelihood of marriage in adulthood and the role of heterosexual romantic relationship experience in explaining this difference. Compared to adolescents from other race/ethnic backgrounds, White adolescents are more likely to date and are especially more likely than Black adolescents to participate in serious romantic relationships that increase marital expectations. Although the type of current or recent relationship is associated with marital expectations, they do not explain the observed race/ethnic gap in these expectations. Overall, the results suggest that these adolescent romantic experiences likely play only a small role in determining differential marital expectations.     

Explaining Black‐White Disparity in Maltreatment: Poverty,Female‐Headed Families,and Urbanization

The purpose of the current study was to assess a structural level explanation of racial disparity in child maltreatment. Using data from Florida counties (1998–2001) and the 2000 census, the effects of poverty, concentrated poverty, and female‐headed families in poverty on Black, White, and the difference between Black‐White rates of child maltreatment were assessed (N= 67). Results suggested that the structural covariates of maltreatment vary by race and that differences in female‐headed families in poverty can explain some, but not all, of the Black‐White racial disparity in child maltreatment. Increasing programs that focus on reducing poverty among female‐headed Black families and the exposure of Black families to concentrated poverty should decrease some of the overrepresentation of Black children in the child welfare system.     

Current Manifestations of Racism: An Exploratory Study of Social Distance and White Racial Identity

Abstract

White racial identity theory postulates that White individuals differ in their psychological orientation to race. However, the racial attitudes research has not examined how these differences impact the degree of social contact an individual is likely to have with members from other racial groups. The authors assessed participants' White racial identity and social distance towards White, Asian, Black, Native, and Latino Americans. The nature of the relationship was examined with a canonical correlation analysis. The analysis revealed a significant canonical variate, which indicated that more developed White racial identity status attitudes were related to less social distance towards members of other racial groups, while less developed racial identity status attitudes were related to greater social distance preference. The authors discuss the results in terms of the implications for psychology and offer recommendations for future research     

Race Lessons in Black and White: How White Adoptive Parents Socialize Black Adoptees in Predominately White Communities

This article examines the approaches, strategies, and perspectives that White adoptive parents use to teach their adopted Black children about coping with race-based discrimination and the development of a positive racial identity. Using qualitative methods and the theoretical construct of White racial framing, the authors identify and critically analyze themes in the parents' race lessons. The central aim of this article is to uncover how these race lessons position family members to either challenge or perpetuate historical, racial inequities and mistreatment faced by African Americans and other communities of color within US society.     

Race and Trends in Pornography Viewership, 1973–2016: Examining the Moderating Roles of Gender and Religion

While some research has uncovered racial differences in patterns of pornography viewership, no studies to date have considered how these patterns may be changing over time or how these trends may be moderated by other key predictors of pornography viewership—specifically, gender and religion. Using nationally representative data from the 1973–2016 General Social Survey (GSS; N = 20,620), and taking into account different ethnoreligious histories with pornography as a moral issue, we examined how race, gender, and religion intersect to influence trends in pornography viewership over 43 years. Analyses revealed that Black Americans in general were more likely to view pornography than Whites, and they were increasing in their pornography viewership at a higher rate than Whites. Moreover, Black men were more likely to consume pornography than all other race/gender combinations, but differed only from White women in their increasing rate of pornography viewership. Lastly, frequent worship attendance moderated trends in pornography viewership only for White men. By contrast, regardless of attendance frequency, Black men and women showed increasing rates of pornography use, while White women showed flat rates. We conclude by discussing the implications of these findings for research on the intersections of race, gender, religion, and sexuality.     

Father's Incarceration and Youth Delinquency and Depression: Examining Differences by Race and Ethnicity

This article examines associations between biological father's incarceration and internalizing and externalizing outcomes of depression and serious delinquency, across White, Black, and Hispanic subsamples of youth in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Among respondents whose father was first incarcerated during childhood or adolescence, father's incarceration is found to be associated with increased depression and delinquency. On the whole, results indicate that associations between father's incarceration and depression and delinquency do not vary by race and ethnicity or gender. One exception is among Hispanic respondents, for whom having a biological father incarcerated is associated with an even higher propensity of delinquency than among White and Black respondents with incarcerated fathers.     

Structural racism as the fundamental cause of the academic achievement gap

Over six decades since the Supreme Court ruled that all American children have the right to a high quality education, the academic achievement gap remains an important social problem in the United States. Researchers interested in understanding the achievement gap generally seek to find the mechanisms that can explain why Black students continue to achieve at lower levels than their White counterparts. This research has shown that differences in socioeconomic status, family cultural resources, school quality and racial composition, and bias and prejudice in schools all act as mechanisms that link race to academic achievement. In this paper, we review studies from the past 10 years on the academic achievement gap. We argue that while all of the factors identified in the literature can add insight to how race structures educational achievement, the fundamental cause of the achievement gap is structural racism, a system of social organization that privileges White Americans and disadvantages Americans of color. We argue that acknowledging structural racism as the fundamental cause of the achievement gap can provide a unifying framework for interpreting findings from studies of specific mechanisms link race to academic outcomes.     

EARLY FACTORS LEADING TO COLLEGE GRADUATION FOR ASIANS AND NON-ASIANS IN THE UNITED STATES

This article explores factors that lead Asian Americans, both as a group and as subgroups, to obtain a college degree in comparison to members of other racial/ethnic groups in the United States. Using data from the 2000 wave of the National Education Longitudinal Study, we find that the effects of race on educational attainment virtually disappear once individual and family factors are controlled. However, there is significant heterogeneity in college attainment among Asian Americans. In addition, we find that the effects of socioeconomic status, parental expectations, eighth-grade grade point average, and family structure are generally weaker for Asian Americans relative to non-Asians while parental immigrant status and standardized test scores are stronger. Asians appear to be "protected" from many of the usual factors that negatively affect educational outcomes while receiving an enhanced benefit from being of an immigrant family.     

Race and Childlessness in America, 1988–2002

This paper bridges the literature on childlessness, which often focuses on married White couples, to the literature on race and fertility, which often focuses on why total fertility rates and nonmarital births are higher for Blacks than Whites. Despite similarity in levels of childlessness among Black women and White women, Black trends have been largely ignored. Recent research has not adequately explored the extent to which factors driving childlessness may vary among Black and White women. We attempted to fill this gap using the National Survey of Family Growth (N = 3,628) and found many similarities in the predictors of childlessness for both races. Exceptions were the role of marital status and educational attainment.     

Measures of Assimilation in the Marriage Market: Mexican Americans 1970–1990

In 1965 the United States rewrote its immigration laws, and immigration increased sharply as a result. The immigrants and the children of immigrants from the post‐1965 period are slowly becoming more influential in U.S. life; the largest of these groups are the Mexican immigrants and the Mexican Americans. The rapid growth of Hispanic and Asian populations in the United States has led to a renewed interest in the question of assimilation; that is, will the new groups assimilate, and if so how long will it take? Will they become part of White America? Will some groups assimilate into the Black‐dominated urban underclass (a process Portes called segmented assimilation)? Will some groups remain permanently separate and socially isolated? In this article, I examine the behavior of Mexican Americans and Mexican immigrants in the U.S. marriage market, using census data from 1970, 1980, and 1990. The findings are that Mexican Americans are assimilating with non‐Hispanic Whites over time, and the evidence tends to reject the segmented assimilation hypothesis. The interplay between intermarriage and endogamy is studied with log linear models; some variations by geography and U.S. nativity are noted.     

Behavior problems and children's academic achievement: A test of growth-curve models with gender and racial differences

The aim of this study was to examine the longitudinal association between externalizing and internalizing behavior and children's academic achievement, particularly in terms of whether these variables varied as a function of gender and race. Data pertaining to externalizing and internalizing behavior, academic achievement, gender, and race from three waves of the Child Development Supplement of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (N = 2028) were used. Results indicate that behavior problems had a negative relationship with academic performance and some of these associations endured over time. Externalizing behavior impacted reading scores more negatively for females compared to males at baseline, but the impact of externalizing behavior on long-term reading outcomes did not vary by gender. Externalizing behavior impacted reading scores more negatively for Black children than White children at multiple points in time. Differences between males, females, Black, and White children concerning behavior and achievement are explained. Implications, limitations, and ideas for future research are also presented.     

The Role of Perceived Racial Discrimination in the Marriage Gap Between Black and White People

Abstract

Many explanations offered for the gap in marriage rates between Black and White people are economic and cultural. Less often considered are how racial social psychological factors influence marriage rates. In this study, we use critical race theory and the life course perspective to investigate how perceived racial discrimination impacts the likelihood of marriage for Black and White people. Data for the study are taken from the Portraits of American Life Study (N?=?678). The results of logistic regression analyses show that among people who report perceived racial discrimination, White people generally have a higher probability of being married compared to Black people. Analyses by age demonstrate that among younger adults, Black people who perceive racial discrimination are equally likely to be married as White people and have a higher probability of being married than Black people who do not report perceptions of racial discrimination. A negative influence on the odds of marriage related to perceived racial discrimination for Black people becomes clearer as respondents age. The findings highlight the importance of considering perceptions of racial discrimination to better understand the marriage gap between Black and White people across the life course.     

Adolescent Sexual Debut: A Multi-System Perspective of Ethnic and Racial Differences

Data from the 1997 cohort of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth were used to assess the association between family, self, proximate extra-familial, and distal extra-familial system factors and abstinence/virginity and age of first sexual intercourse by ethnicity and race (N = 1,854). Findings show how and in what circumstances measures associated with these four factors vary for Black, White, and Hispanic youth. Findings point to the robustness of class and gender for each ethnic-racial group on timing of sexual initiation and of delinquency and negative peer relations on abstinence among Black and White youth and of religious affiliation among Hispanic youth.     

African American and Black Caribbean feelings of closeness to Africans

African American and Black Caribbean relations dominate research on interactions across black ethnic divides. Using National Survey of American Life data, we explore a different aspect of black interethnic attitudes: how close these groups feel towards Africans. African Americans and Black Caribbeans were largely similar in their feelings of closeness to Africans. For Black Caribbeans, younger and male respondents, those reporting higher levels of financial strain, living in the northeast and persons who immigrated to the US at least 11 years ago, report feeling especially close to Africans. Being male was the only significant correlate among African Americans. The findings are discussed in relation to how race, ethnicity and national origin shape personal identities within the US and their significance for intergroup perceptions. These broader issues warrant further consideration in light of assertions that race as a defining feature of American life and intergroup relations is obsolete.