Predictors of Racial Apathy among Emerging Adults
Author:
Tony N. Brown, Asia Bento, Julian Culver, Raul Casarez, and Horace J. Duffy III
Summary of Paper:
Forman (2004) and Forman and Lewis (2006, 2015) theorize that the expression of contemporary white racial prejudice often assumes the form of racial apathy (i.e., not caring about racial inequality). Extending their work, the current study introduces a new measure of racial apathy and considers its correlates. Analyzing nationally representative survey data from 13 to 17 year old white respondents in the 2003 National Study of Youth and Religion (NSYR), we examine previously identified correlates of racial apathy. We also examine new correlates. Results suggest that previously identified correlates (e.g., gender and parental education) appear robust, and new correlates (e.g., interracial dating and living in a multi-race household) deserve attention. In addition, supplementary analyses confirm that racial apathy expression remains stable at the population level over time and there is considerable variance left in racial apathy to explain. We conclude that changes in the expression of white racial prejudice mandate use of myriad measures to assess how whites feel about non-whites, and egalitarian principles and ameliorative policies.