Towards the Elimination of Racism PDF
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PERGAMON GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY SERIES Editor: Arnold P. Goldstein, Syracuse University Leonard Krasner, SUNY, Stony Brook TITLES IN THE PERGAMON GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY SERIES (Added Titles in Back of Volume) Vol. 1. J. WOLPE- The Practice of Behavior Therapy, Second Edition Vol. 2. T. ΜAGOON et al-Mental Health Counselors at Work Vol. 3. J. UcOk^lEL-Physical Disability and Human Behavior, Second Edition Vol. 4. M.L. KAPLAN et al-The Structural Approach in Psychological Testing Vol. 5. H.M. LaFAUCI & P.E. KICKY^K-Team Teaching at the College Level Vol. 6. H.B. PEPINSKY et al-People and Information Vol. 7. A.W. SIEGMAN & B. ?0?E-Studies in Dyadic Communication Vol. 8. R.E. JOHNSON-Existential Man: The Challenge of Psychotherapy Vol. 9. C.V^.TAYLOR-Climate for Creativity Vol. 10. H.C. RICK ARO-Behavioral Intervention in Human Problems Vol. 11. P.EKMAN, W.V. FRIESEN & P. ELLSV/ORTH-Emotion in the Human Pace: Guidelines for Research and an Integration of Findings Vol. 12. B. MAUSNER & E.S. PLATT-5moA:m^; A Behavioral Analysis Vol. 14. A. GOLDSTEIN-Psychotherapeutic Attraction Vol. 15. F. HALPERN-^wmVfl/; Black/White Vol. 16. K. SALZINGER & R.S. FELDUAN-Studies in Verbal Behavior: An Empirical Approach Vol. 17. H.E. ADAMS & W.K. BOARDMAN-Advances in Experimental Clinical Psychology Vol. 18. R.C. ZILLER-r/ie Social Self Vol. 19. R.P. LIBERMAN -A Guide to Behavioral Analysis ά Therapy Vol. 22. H.B. PEPINSKY & M.J. ΡΑΤΤΟΝ-Γ/ze Psychological Experiment: A Practical Accomplishment Vol. 23. T.R. YOUNG-A^ew Sources of Self Vol. 24. L.S. WATSON, JR.-Child Behavior Modification: A Manual for Teachers, Nurses and Parents Vol. 25. H.L. NEWBOLD-TTie Psychiatric Programming of People: Neo-Behavioral Orthomolecular Psychiatry Vol. 26. E.L. ROSSI-Dreams and the Growth of Personality: Expanding Awareness in Psychotherapy Vol. 27. K.D. O'LEARY & S.G. O'LEARY-Cto/Oom Management: The Successful Use of Behavior Modification Vol. 28. K.A. FELDMAN- College and Student: Selected Readings in the Social Psychology of Higher Education Vol. 29. B.A. ASHEM & E.G. ?OSER-Adaptive Learning: Behavior Modification with Children The terms of our inspection copy service apply to all the above books. A complete catalogue of all books in the Pergamon International Library is available on request. The Publisher will be pleased to receive suggestions for revised editions and new titles. Towards the Elimination of Racism Phyllis A. Katz Editor Sponsored by the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues PERGAMON PRESS INC. New York / Toronto / Oxford / Sydney / Braunschweig / Paris Pergamon Press Offices: U.S.A. Pergamon Press Inc., Maxwell House, Fairview Park, Elmsford, New York 10523, U.S.A. U.K. Pergamon Press Ltd., Headington Hül HaU, Oxford 0X3, OBW, England CANADA Pergamon of Canada, Ltd., 207 Queen's Quay West, Toronto 1, Canada AUSTRALIA Pergamon Press (Aust.) Pty. Ltd., 19a Boundary Street, Rushcutters Bay, N.S.W. 2011, Australia FRANCE Pergamon Press SARL, 24 rue des Ecoles, 75240 Paris, Cedex 05, France WEST GERMANY Pergamon Press GmbH, 3300 Braunschweig, Postfach 2923, Burgplatz 1, West Germany Copyright © 1976, Pergamon Press, Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Katz, Phyllis A. Towards the elimination of racism. (Pergamon general psychology series; no. 54) "Sponsored by the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues." Includes bibliographies. 1, United States-Race question-Addresses, essays, lectures. I. Title. E185.615.K3 301.45Ό973 74-28030 ISBN 0-08-018316-6 ISBN 0-08-018317-4 pbk. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means: electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechan ical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without permission in writing from the publishers. Printed in the United States of America This volume is dedicated to Martin and Alice who let me pursue my own thing in spite of contrary stereotypes, and to Aron, Martin 2, and Margaret who are equally understanding. The Editor Phyllis A. Katz (Ph. D., Yale University) is currently a Professor in the Education and Developmental Psychology doctoral programs at the City Univer sity of New York. Her major areas of professional interest are the development and modification of children's inter-group attitudes and behavior, and she has published papers in a number of professional journals in this field. She serves on the editorial boards of several journals in developmental psychology and consults for a variety of governmental and private agencies. She is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, and a member of a number of other professional organizations in psychology and education. IX Contributors Dr. Yehuda Amir Eric Hirschhorn, Esq. Department of Psychology Cadwalader, Wickersham and Taft Bar-Ilan University, Israel New York, N.Y. Dr. Richard Ashmore Dr. Phyllis A. Katz Department of Psychology Graduate Center Livingston College of City University of New York Rutgers University New York, N.Y. New Brunswick, N.J. Sherrie L. Mazingo Dr. Mark A. Chesler Department of Communication Sociology Department Michigan State University University of Michigan East Lansing, Mich. Ann Arbor, Mich. Eleanor Holmes Norton, Esq. Dr. Frances K. DelBoca Commissioner Rutgers University New York City Commission on New Brunswick, N.J. Human Rights New York, N.Y. Dr. Samuel L. Gaertner Psychology Department Dr. Myron Rothbart University of Delaware Department of Psychology Newark, Del. University of Oregon Eugene, Ore. Dr. Bradley S. Greenberg Department of Communication Dr. T.A. Weissbach Michigan State University Department of Psychology East Lansing, Mich. Pomona College Claremont, Cal. Preface My need to participate in a volume of this kind began with an experience I had on the Chesapeake Bay Ferry when. I was eight years old. I was thirsty and walked over to the water fountain marked "colored," eagerly anticipating the green, purple, and orange streams of water. The shock and outrage I felt upon being rudely informed that the sign did not refer to the water have still not diminished. The issue of how such outrage towards inequitable treatment of individuals because of their membership in particular ethnic and racial groups has been transformed into social science research is the underlying theme of this book. Social scientists have exhibited considerable fascination with the problem of racism for at least four decades. This volume seeks to assess what can be distilled from these efforts, and to indicate where future research is leading. The emphasis throughout is on the question of how negative interracial attitudes and behavior can be changed. The effort that went into this undertaking was truly a joint one, and invaluable assistance was received from many sources. The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues generously supported the preparation of this volume both financially and emotionally. Although many individuals were involved, I would especially Uke to thank Marcia Guttentag, Bert Raven, Richard Schmuck, and Caroline Weichlein for their help in seeing it through. Gratitude is also extended to the many individuals who served as critical advisors for portions of the manuscript and provided many useful ideas. The participation of Chester Pierce, Claire Selltiz, Hylan Lewis, Charles Thomas, and John Robinson is gratefully acknowledged. Particular thanks are extended to Irwin Katz for his thoughtful overall review, which was extremely helpful in revising earlier drafts of the manuscript. Finally, I wish to express my deepest appreciation to Karyl Robbins for the preparation of the book. Her secretarial skills and patience are both unsurpassed. P.K. Foreword This volume forces a focus on changes in American racism, for so long the country's most changeless phenomenon, and on the role of the social scientist in measuring, assessing, and accelerating the pace of change. In effect, this compilation helps us measure the tasks bequeathed us by the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Racism was the central issue of the sixties, as it should have been for decades before. A social movement of genuine mass proportions attacked American racism head-on and finally began to work profound changes in the nation's attitudes, laws, and institutions. Even as it forged impressive legal and political tools, the movement dared the generation of the seventies to convert them to lasting advantage. This is a task that will surely exceed the limits of a decade as it encompasses the fruit of centuries of oppression. But it is a task that must be resolutely pursued if we are to ensure that the events of the sixties were more than a show of style and passion and that the changes they wrought will be real and enduring. Many who were actors in the movement events of the last decade have embraced the challenges their own efforts created. Some, of course, are dead and martyred; others were personally devastated by the struggle itself. But thousands have turned their talents to new and not unrelated objectives. Some have entered politics and government to work for the enforcement of the laws they forged. Maynard Jackson, the young black Mayor of Atlanta who is one of these, has even called poHtics "the civil rights movement of the seventies." But many others of my old movement colleagues-people Uke Vernon Jordon, Fannie Lou Hamer, Floyd McKissick, and John Lewis-have taken the movement to its next logical step, scattering themselves to places where they can do some good and even wield some of the power they helped create through struggle. What is clear to us all is that the issues of the seventies are far more defined, and in their own way more difficult, than those of the sixties. The goal is no longer the broad "Freedom Now," but the complicated and demanding effort for affirmative action in employment and housing, for a guaranteed annual wage. xiü xiv Foreword for an equal share of educational allocations, and the like. The danger always is that the recalcitrance of American racism will make too many weary and will tempt the country to give up. Like those who rightly "don't want to study war no more," many would prefer to leave the progress and problems in eradicating America's oldest sickness unexamined. But we must continue to study racism, as those who have contributed to this book have done. For study, and the education that results, are among the best weapons we have to fight racism. Those who have studied and acquired knowledge are the least bigoted and most vigilant against the racial myths that have held the nation back. These thoughtful chapters represent the kinds of efforts that are indispens able to durable and steady progress. Let us continue to study, to learn, and to fight. Eleanor Holmes Norton, Esq. Commissioner New York City Commission on Human Rights 1 Racism and Social Science: Towards a New Commitment PHYLLIS A. KATZ Racism—the unequal treatment of individuals because of their membership in a particular group-appears to be alive, well, and thriving in the United States. As Martin Luther King so aptly stated in 1968, white America is "poisoned to its soul by racism." Evidence that we are indeed a racist society, as noted in the Report of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (1968), is continuous. Scarcely a day goes by without new documentation. The dyna miting of school buses to be used in a new integration program; the shooting of a black off-duty policeman who is mistaken for the thief; the involuntary sterilization of young, black, teenage girls; the use of a black, untreated "control" group in a longitudinal study of syphilis-such reminders are, sadly, too familiar. Discussions about racism, however, tend to be analogous to discussions about sin. There is general agreement that it is bad. Its existence is loudly decried, often with great piety and occasional protestations of guilt, but more frequently it is perceived as a problem associated with other people. Moreover, like sin, racism has been with us for a long time. Long before civil rights commissions and today's continuous media commentary, astute observers of the American scene noted the paradox of our expressed egalitarian ideals on the one hand, and our racist practices on the other. The victims of the discrimination have, of course, for centuries been continually conscious of the schism between the words and the behavior of the white community, and have repeatedly stated their case with eloquence and passion. Until recently, however, whites have preferred not to listen. Although many were probably shocked to hear H. Rap Brown describe racism as "American as apple pie," even the most cursory venture into our history supports his statement. The inequality of the races was woven right into the original fabric of our society and clearly reflected a cultural heritage of long standing (Knowles and Prewitt, 1969). Moreover, as the last chapter of this book documents, political and legal rights for racial minorities were extremely long in coming, and grudgingly given only when great pressure was applied. Our very Constitution, a document we are taught to revere in school, recog nized slavery in many of its provisions.
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