RACE AND THE EDUCATIONAL EXPECTATIONS OF PARENTS AND CHILDREN: The Case of South Africa

South Africa, a country that is highly stratified by race, is an important location for studying the relationship between race and educational expectations. Using a longitudinal data set, we examine the educational expectations of black (African), colored (mixed race), and white (European ancestry) parents and children in Cape Town, South Africa. We find that parents and children have high educational expectations regardless of race, but black parents and children have higher educational expectations than coloreds and whites once socioeconomic and other factors are controlled. We also find that parents' and children's expectations tend to agree more and are more closely correlated among coloreds and whites than blacks. We test two explanations for the educational expectations of parents and children, finding more support for the status attainment perspective among coloreds and whites than blacks and support for the family social capital perspective among blacks and coloreds only.     

NEIGHBORHOOD DISADVANTAGE AMONG RACIAL AND ETHNIC GROUPS:

We compare the neighborhood characteristics of native- and foreign-born blacks, whites, Hispanics, and Asians in 1970 and 1980. We broaden the locational attainment literature by emphasizing three contrasts: between black and nonblack groups, between native black and nonblack immigrant groups, and among black groups. Consistent with previous evidence, we find a clear spatial disadvantage for black groups relative to nonblack groups, and for native blacks compared to nonblack immigrant groups, in both years. However, our study reveals a slight advantage for foreign nonHispanic blacks (e.g., Afro-Caribbean immigrants) among the black groups throughout the time period. Our results break new ground by extending the analysis of racial and ethnic variation in residential attainment back to 1970, providing an earlier benchmark against which current patterns of residential attainment can be compared.     

Polarization and progress in the black community: Earnings and status gains for young black males in the era of affirmative action

We examined the occupational mobility and earnings attainment of young black and white male workers in the period 1974–1981 for evidence of class polarization among blacks in the era following the 1960s' antidiscrimination legislation. Our model links occupational status and earnings to the social resources of education and father's socioeconomic status, using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, 1968–1981. The results suggest that such resources operated more strongly for advantaged blacks than for whites. But for less advantaged blacks, race remained a significant barrier. As predicted by the polarization hypothesis, enforcement of affirmative action guidelines was beneficial, but only to more qualified blacks.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meetings of the Society for the Study of Social Problems, August 1987.     

CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF LAYOFFS

Using probit analysis, this article finds that differential treatment accounts for a substantial portion of the higher layoff rates of blacks in comparison to whites. However, women are found to be considerably less prone to layoffs than men with similar characteristics. Among those who obtained subsequent employment (taking into account the possible selectivity bias in such a subsample), white males are hurt more by layoffs than black males in terms of both short-term and long-term earnings growth; women's earnings are not necessarily affected by layoff at all. However, whites and males are found to be more likely to be reemployed than blacks and females, respectively.     

UNDEREMPLOYMENT AND RACIAL COMPETITION IN LOCAL LABOR MARKETS

The primary concern in this paper is to analyze the effects of black population concentration on black and white men's relative and absolute underemployment levels in labor market areas while controlling for the degree of occupational segregation by race. We draw hypotheses from two primary bodies of research; one literature focuses on general racial competition and the other considers competition to be more limited. Our findings that racial inequality in underemployment levels increases with blacks' population share are most consistent with the general competition model. However, we also find some support for the limited competition model which holds that not all whites benefit from increased competition with blacks. Finally, we find that occupational segregation helps to determine the form that racial discrimination in employment adequacy takes. Where occupational segregation is high, black men hold relatively more low-wage jobs, but where occupational segregation is low, they experience higher levels of unemployment and more disadvantage relative to whites.     

THE SUBSTITUTABILITY OF BLACK, HISPANIC, AND WHITE LABOR

This paper analyzes the extent of labor market competition among blacks, hispanics, and whites in the United States. The specification of a generalized Leontief production function leads to an empirically tractable system of input demand functions. The estimation of the demand system, using the 1976 Survey of Income and Education, reveals that (a) blacks and hispanics are complementary inputs; (b) hispanics and whites may also be complements; and (c) blacks and whites are not complements and may be substitutes.     

DETERMINANTS OF SATISFACTION FOR BLACKS AND WHITES

The study analyzes the determinants of satisfaction for blacks and whites with data from the Quality of American Life survey conducted in 1971 and replicated in 1978. A domain satisfaction scale is the dependént variable and a series of demographic, social relationship, SES, and religion variables are used as independent variables. Separate regression analyses by race, and tests for the significance of the interaction of the independent variables with race reveal (1) perceived quality of important relationships (i.e., friends, neighbors, children, parents, and siblings) more strongly affects levels of satisfaction for both blacks and whites than demographic variables. SES, or religion; (2) black females report significantly lower levels of satisfaction than any other gender/race group; (3) blacks living in the East report lower satisfaction than any other region/race group; (4) feeling close to their parents more strongly impacts black than white levels of satisfaction; (5) religion is more important for blacks than for whites in producing satisfaction; and (6) SES is more important for whites than blacks in producing satisfaction. Theoretical interpretations are presented.     

THE SOCIAL CONTEXT OF RACE DIFFERENTIALS IN JUVENILE JUSTICE DISPOSITIONS

Proponents of traditional conflict theory have argued that minority races receive harsher justice system dispositions because they lack the power and resources to ensure equal treatment. Hawkins' (1987) proposed revision of this model predicts minoritv races will receive harsher dispositions in social contexts in which their power threatens the dominant group's hegemony.
This study uses juvenile justice processing data from the 32 Florida SMA counties to examine these competing models. The effects of three measures of blacks' power are considered—the relative size of black and white population, the proportion of blacks who are poor, and the average black/white income gap—on differential treatment of black and white juveniles at three court processing stages. A higher proportion of whites in the population is associated with harsher dispositions for black youths. This result is consistent with traditional conflict theory. The other two measures have no differential racial effect on disposition severity.     

Do neighborhood conditions affect high school dropout and college graduation rates?

This article estimates the effects of neighborhood conditions on the educational attainment of young people. Using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to measure the background characteristics of young people and their educational attainment at age 25 and the U.S. Census to describe the characteristics of the neighborhoods in which respondents lived between ages 14 and 18, the paper estimates neighborhood effects separately for blacks and whites and tests for nonlinearities and important interactions in these effects. We find that neighborhood characteristics influence educational attainment among young people, but do so differently for black and white youth. Among black youth, growing up in neighborhoods with wealthier residents, more two parent families, and a greater percentage of workers in professional or managerial occupations leads to a substantial decrease in the high school dropout rate. These neighborhood characteristics do not affect the probability of graduating from college, however. Neighborhood effects among black youth occur primarily among those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Among white youth, neighborhood conditions positively affect the probability of graduating from college but do not significantly affect the high school dropout rate. These effects are concentrated among those from relatively advantaged backgrounds.     

Trends and incidence of childlessness by race: indicators of black progress over three decades

Patterns in childlessness rates for blacks and whites in the U.S. from 1950-1972 were examined using 1940, 1950, and 1960 census data and data from Current Population Reports for 1969 and 1972. Among ever married women, aged 15-49, the proportion of childless black women declined from 29.1%-13.6% from 1940-1972, while the porportion of childless white women declined from 22.9%-14.3% from 1940-1969 and then increased slightly to 15.6% in 1972. The decline in childlessness observed for both blacks and whites during this period was attributable, at least in part, to improved medical care. When age specific rates were examined 2 diverse patterns emerged. For females, aged 15-24, childlessness rates for blacks were lower than for whites throughout 1940-1972, and the differences between blacks and whites increased over time. However, for females, aged 30-39, childlessness rates were higher for blacks than for whites throughout 1940-1972, and the gap between white and black rates decreased over time. In general the data demonstrated a convergence in childlessness patterns for blacks and whites. Childlessness rates were viewed as an indication of social integration. Childlessness is not a norm in American society. The general decline in childless rates among blacks and especially among blacks over 30 years of age indicated that the wider society was serving as a reference group for blacks. Among blacks under 25 years convergence was less apparent and indicated that younger black women were less integrated into the larger society than older black women. On the basis of recent trends it was predicted that convergence between black and white childlessness patterns would continue; however, in view of the upturn in the childlessness rate observed for whites since 1969, it was expected that the childlessness rates for both blacks and whites would increase somewhat in the coming years.     

The Portrayal of Blacks in Magazine Advertisements: 1950-1982

This article compares the frequency and social characteristicsof blacks and whites in advertisements in Time and Ladies' HomeJournal during 1950 and 1980. The occupational level of blacksportrayed has risen considerably, and blacks are no longer presentedas maids or servants. However, white authority figures are stillfrequently shown aiding poor blacks or supervising black children.Furthermore, ads show friendly and informal social relationshipsbetween individual whites much more frequently than they showsuch relationships between whites and blacks. Finally, in anextended analysis the frequency of black ads in 1980, 1981,and 1982 is examined for Time, Newsweek and LHJ. Blacks arestill somewhat underrepresented, and recent fluctuations inthe use of black advertisements are considered. The articlebegins and ends with a discussion of three different modelsthat might account for the way blacks are presented in advertisementsin the United States.     

Race,Class, and Support for the Welfare State*

Two competing approaches to the study of African Americans—the race and class perspectives—have dominated attempts to explain their views on contemporary issues. To examine the race versus class debate, this study uses African Americans' views on government spending for five social welfare concerns: (1) improving and protecting the nation's health, (2) solving the problems of big cities, (3) halting rising crime rates, (4) dealing with drug addiction, and (5) improving the nation's education system. Data from the 1972–1990 General Social Surveys are used to compare middle-class blacks with both working-class blacks and whites and middle-class whites in terms of their support for government spending for those five social welfare issues. Examining group means, we found no significant difference between the two black classes but a significant difference between the black middle class and the white middle class on support for government spending in all areas except halting the rising crime rates (where there were no significant differences among the four groups). Similarly, using logistic regression analysis we found that race continued to have a significant effect on support for spending even after controlling for class, year, age, gender, education, income, and occupational prestige. In respect to social welfare spending, the results indicate support for the race, as opposed to the class, perspective; that is, race is better than class for predicting African American attitudes on government spending.     

Metropolitan Heterogeneity and Minority Neighborhood Attainment: Spatial Assimilation or Place Stratification?

Using geo-referenced data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, in conjunction with decennial census data, this research examines metropolitan-area variation in the ability of residentially mobile blacks, Hispanics, and whites to convert their income into two types of neighborhood outcomes-neighborhood racial composition and neighborhood socioeconomic status. For destination tract racial composition, we find strong and near-universal support for the "weak version" of place stratification theory; relative to whites, the effect of individual income on the percent of the destination tract population that is non-Hispanic white is stronger for blacks and Hispanics, but even the highest earning minority group members move to tracts that are "less white" than the tracts that the highest-earning whites move to. In contrast, for moves into neighborhoods characterized by higher levels of average family income, we find substantial heterogeneity across metropolitan areas in minorities' capacity to convert income into neighborhood quality. A slight majority of metropolitan areas evince support for the "strong version" of place stratification theory, in which blacks and Hispanics are less able than whites to convert income into neighborhood socioeconomic status. However, a nontrivial number of metropolitan areas also evince support for spatial assimilation theory, where the highest-earning minorities achieve neighborhood parity with the highest-earning whites. Several metropolitan-area characteristics, including residential segregation, racial and ethnic composition, immigrant population size, poverty rates, and municipal fragmentation, emerge as significant predictors of minority-white differences in neighborhood attainment.     

OCCUPATIONAL GROWTH AND THE EXPANSION OF EDUCATIONALLY-RELATED EARNING GAPS

I develop an argument that facilitates understanding of how occupational growth impinges on the relationship between education and earnings. Much of the literature focuses on workers employed at the ends of the occupational hierarchy, whereas my contribution applies to workers positioned all along the occupational hierarchy. I argue that an undersupply of affordable, suitable labor in expanding occupations encourages a division of labor among workers who vary in educational attainment. This division of labor, in turn, leads to greater educationally-related earnings inequality—even among workers who hold similar positions in the occupational hierarchy. Such a development can become pervasive because expanding occupations exist throughout the occupational hierarchy and because educational attainment among workers varies within most occupations. In declining occupations, a different set of conditions pervades, and these conditions facilitate employers' efforts to control their wage-bill by compressing educationally-related earning gaps. A hypothesis is derived from these arguments and tested on a nationally representative sample. The findings are consistent with the hypothesis, suggesting the arguments considered here help explain how the relationship between education and earnings is influenced by whether workers are employed in expanding or in declining occupations. Consequently, this research improves our understanding of how earnings inequality among individuals is linked to structural transformations in the economy.     

The Unintended Significance of Race: Environmental Racial Inequality in Detroit

This article addresses shortcomings in the literature on environmental inequality by (a) setting forth and testing four models of environmental inequality and (b) explicitly linking environmental inequality research to spatial mismatch theory and to the debate on the declining significance of race. The explanatory models ask whether the distribution of blacks and whites around environmental hazards is the result of black/white income inequality, racist siting practices, or residential segregation. The models are tested using manufacturing facility and census data from the Detroit metropolitan area. It turns out that the distribution of blacks and whites around this region's polluting manufacturing facilities is largely the product of residential segregation which, paradoxically, has reduced black proximity to manufacturing facility pollution.     

THE EFFECTS OF RACE OF THE INTERVIEWER ON MEASURES OF ELECTORAL PARTICIPATION BY BLACKS IN SRC NATIONAL ELECTION STUDIES

This study investigates the effect of the race of the intervieweron self-reported voting, actual voting, and political attitudesof black respondents, based on the SRC/CPS National ElectionStudies (NES) of 1964, 1976, 1978, 1980, and 1984. The impactof race of the interviewer in the NES surveys has not been analyzedpreviously. Over the course of the five studies, the proportionof black respondents who were interviewed by black interviewersdeclined sharply, particularly in the South. Almost all whiterespondents were interviewed by whites. Except for southern blacks in the pre-Voting Rights Act electionof 1964, black nonvoters in the presidential election surveys     

SOCIAL ISOLATION OF THE URBAN POOR:

We focus on the effects of race, class, and neighborhood on social isolation. Using data from households in Atlanta, Georgia, we compare poor and nonpoor African Americans to nonpoor whites on two types of social ties and the social resources inherent in those ties. We find that poverty has an important influence on the social resources available to African Americans in and outside of their household. Poor blacks are less likely than other blacks and nonpoor whites to live with another adult, to have even one person outside the household with whom they discuss important matters (a discussion partner), or to have a college-educated person in their discussion network. Higher neighborhood poverty reduces the size of the discussion network for whites and blacks and affects the probabilities of having any kind of social contacts. Important for the social isolation thesis is our finding that among African Americans, living in a very poor neighborhood increases social isolation and reduces access to social resources via one's network of close ties.     

Race, Gender, and Opinion Toward Black and Female Presidential Candidates

Using data from the 1974 and 1978 General Social Surveys, publicopinion toward blacks and women as presidential candidates wasexplored. We tested the hypotheses that white males would beleast likely to support presidential candidates from both groups,while black females would be the most likely to express thissupport. We found that although blacks in general were moresupportive of black candidacies than were whites, women werenot consistently more supportive of female candidates. Whileblack women were more likely than black males to support femalecandidates, among whites few gender differences were found.     

THE EFFECTS OF THE RACE OF THE INTERVIEWER ON RACE-RELATED ATTITUDES OF BLACK RESPONDENTS IN SRC/CPS NATIONAL ELECTION STUDIES

Previous research found substantial effects of the race of theinterviewer on measures of civic attitudes and electoral participationof blacks in NES surveys from 1964, 1976, 1978, 1980, and 1984.This study extends the previous analysis in two ways: it usesdata from two additional NES surveys, 1982 and 1986; and itfocuses on the effects of the race of the interviewer on race-relatedattitudes. Blacks interviewed by whites were much more likelyto express warmth and closeness toward whites than were blacksinterviewed by blacks. But whereas there is no race-of-interviewereffect on blacks' expressions of warmth toward blacks, thereis a clear race-of-interviewer effect on blacks' expressionsof closeness toward blacks. The pattern of responses to thecloseness items appears to result from the format of the question.The observed trend of decreasing expressed closeness of blackstoward blacks in NES surveys between 1976 and 1984 is an artifactof changes in the racial composition of the interviewer staff.