Will White people ever change?

Question

CHICAGO - Decades after the civil rights movement's greatest victories, black youth often see a world rife with discrimination, a new survey says. And yet they remain optimistic about their chances for affecting social change.

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Researchers at the University of Chicago, who were releasing the study Thursday, say their findings also show that these youth are complex when it comes to such issues as sex education and hip-hop music.

Cathy Cohen, a political science professor at the University of Chicago and the report's lead author, said the aim of the survey was to provide data that goes beyond broad stereotypes.

It found, for instance, that while 58 percent of black youth say they listen to rap music every day, the majority of them also think its videos are too violent and often portray black women in an offensive way.

"I enjoy rap music — I love hip-hop. I love totally different types of music," says Lauren Guy, a 24-year-old substitute teacher from Oak Park, Ill., who participated in the survey. "What I don't like is how women are degraded in music and how violence is glorified."

The survey, which researchers call the Black Youth Project, details the responses of nearly 1,600 black, Latino and white participants, ages 15 to 25, from several Midwestern cities.

Their responses don't always paint a rosy picture about minorities' view of the country.

More than half of African-American and Latino respondents said they believe government officials care very little about them, while 44 percent of white youth said the same. Just over half of black youth also were the most likely to feel their education was, on average, poorer than that of white youth. About a third of whites agreed with that statement. And 61 percent of African-Americans who were surveyed said they feel held back by discrimination.

"It's a red flag, prompting us to talk about what needs to happen in this country to bring about true equality for young people in general — and especially vulnerable young people," Cohen said, referring not just to black young people, but to everyone from low-income youth to gay and lesbians.

While they see many social problems in the world, the survey indicated teens and young adults are optimistic about their chances of changing things for the better.

A large majority of youth in the survey believe, for instance, that they can make a difference by participating in politics — with 79 percent black and white youth and 77 percent of Latino youth saying they feel that way.

They're also using their spending power through "buycotts" — buying products because they like a company's social or political values. A quarter of black youth said they'd participated in a buycott in the last 12 months, while 23 percent of white youth and 20 percent of Hispanic youth said the same. Cohen said several of the respondents mentioned the Motorola (RED) campaign, aimed at helping fund the fight against AIDS in Africa.

Other survey findings included the following:

• About a third of black and Hispanic youth thought drugs, violence, gangs and crime were problems in their neighborhoods, compared with 10 percent of white youth;

• 59 percent of white youth report receiving care from a private doctor, while 40 percent of African-American youth and 39 percent of Hispanic youth say the same;

• 81 percent of white youth, 79 percent of Hispanic youth and 76 percent of black youth disagree with the government funding abstinence-only education;

• 76 percent of African-American youth, 74 percent of Hispanics and 68 percent of whites think condoms should be provided at high schools.

The study is unusual in that it spotlights a group that's often overlooked by social scientists.

"We sometimes get a little statistic here and there as a footnote to someone else's research," says Bakari Kitwana, the Cleveland-based author of "The Hip-Hop Generation: Young Blacks and the Crisis in African-American Culture."

"This is a study that puts young black kids at the forefront."

Initial interviews for the survey were completed between July and November 2005, with in-depth interviews carried out in 2006. Youth interviewed for the project were from Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, St. Louis and Gary, Ind.

The survey, which was funded by the Ford Foundation, has a margin of error of less than plus-or-minus 2 percentage points.

Answer 1

I highly doubt most white people will change. There is a guy asking now, "Are minorities being coddled in America" and it just goes to show that minorities can never do anything right to white people.

Once a friend's mother who was white called a group of Black boys, ******* right in front of me. I am Black and she looked at me and said, "Oops sorry." Yeah, whatever.

Answer 2

I don't understand your question. I think the study is valuable but how does one draw a conclusion from it without knowing the attitudes about the same things, say, a generation ago? The percentages do not seem that much different on several of the responses. I think the groups are growing closer in their attitudes and circumstances than they ever were in U.S. history.

Answer 3

I believe that White people HAVE changed tremendously! Am I saying that racism no longer exists? No. At the same time I feel that Black people have changed. Instead of preaching & teaching non-violence the Black youth of today are being brought up to believe that racism is alive & well & they are being prepped at home to look for it & to expect it. I can't remember the name of that show that was on TV but the White & Black families traded places. The Black family was painted to look White & the White family was painted to look Black. The Black father of the group found racism in every little thing. I'm not saying he didn't experience it at all but there was one instance when a group of people walking down the sidewalk moved to the side to allow them room to walk as well & the Black man saw that as racism. It was clearly people just accommodating others. I never knew anything about racism because I wasn't raised in a racist home even though I'm in the South. I learned about racism in high school from my Black friends. They were all too happy to talk about what my White ancestors did to their Black ancestors. I don't know that any of my ancestors ever owned slaves. If they did, I hate it but I can't change it. All I can do is be the best person I can be today. For anybody to pre-program their children with thoughts & ideas about racism is WRONG. That's on the White side or the Black side.

That said, let's consider this in regards to the statistics you posted above....nobody keeps Black or Hispanic people in the ghetto. Everyone has free will to move where they please. Neighborhoods are made up of the people who live there. If there is more crime there it's because there are more criminals there. If there is more violence there it's because there are more violent people there. If there are more drugs there it's because the people who live there bring them in & distribute them there. How can that be blamed on the White people? We cannot take responsibility for the choices others make. Let's consider this also, in the areas you are talking about with inferior school systems....how much tax money do you think is coming from that particular community to afford a better school system? Have you considered that the schools in other areas are better because the people who make up that neighborhood contribute more taxes & therefore have a right to demand better schools?

I have absolutely NOTHING against Black people. I am NOT a racist. I am married to a Latino. I am, however, sick & tired of being blamed for all the "wrongs" going on in the world today because of my skin color. If anyone is discriminated against now I feel it's me. It's time we all stepped-up to the challenge to make our own personal homes, then our own personal neighborhoods & our own school systems the BEST they can be. Don't push the blame off on someone else. It's a cop-out and it does nothing but promote animosity and does nothing to actually solving the problems that exist.

Answer 4

I change to brown every Summer, so I love it even though I know it's bad in some respects-but I live at the beach so what can I say. I have to be dark, and we have contest to see who can get the darkest. I know it's crazy, I use a high spf on my face. But to be the Darkest Girl on the Beach is Hottt here!

Answer 5

Hi, yes eventually by learning about the new message of God to bring them come back to reality of life.

Already world has changed a lot since 100 years ago it is going to be better when they learn about true life of humanity, old world needs a renew in understanding.

Thank you ,
God bless,
Australia Adelaide

Answer 6

Hope so. I like to believe so, although I'm afraid it'll take several more generations unfortunately....

Answer 7

Yes it will change. It just takes time.

Answer 8

i think the US has a LOOONG way to go in regards to an accepting society... sad

Answer 9

blah blah blah - lets put it this way - what you are saying is basically racist !