This is a study of trends in racial attitudes among American youth. Despite decades of progress in black-white relations, including a narrowing of the racial gap in socioeconomic status and a steady decline in white Americans' overt expressions of racial animosity, widespread racial inequalities and prejudices persist, and there is some evidence that racial hostility among adolescents is on the rise. This research examines the current status and recent history of intergroup relations among American youth, with a particular focus on the factors that promote positive interracial attitudes and experiences. Drawing on data from a two-decade-long series of nationally representative annual surveys of high school seniors ("Monitoring the Future: A Continuing Study of the Lifestyles and Values of Youth"), this project will examine trends in the racial attitudes and interracial experiences of young black and white Americans from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s and test a multivariate explanatory model that links the racial attitudes of youths to their opportunities for interracial contact in a variety of formal and informal settings. The model distinguishes among three key dimensions of interracial contact: opportunities for contact, frequency of contact, and closeness of contact; and among four outcomes: adolescents' perceptions of the relations between blacks and whites, their degree of concern about racial issues, their evaluation of their own personal experiences with members of other races, and their endorsement of interracial ties. By examining the nature, extent, and consequences of interracial contact among young people, this research will provide new insight into the future of American race relations. It will provide needed information about issues of concern to school administrators, community leaders, and others concerned with implementing effective interventions to improve the racial attitudes of adolescents and the racial climate in this country.
