In this article, we propose a shift in race research from a one-dimensional hierarchical approach to a multidimensional system of racial stratification. Building upon Claire Kim's (1999) racial triangulation theory, we examine how the American public rates Asians relative to blacks and whites along two dimensions of racial stratification: racial…

The debate about racial residential preferences has two open questions. First, are neighborhood racial preferences truly racial, or is race a proxy for socioeconomic factors? Second, are in-group or out-group preferences more salient? Using the Houston Area Survey, we employ a factorial experiment to assess the effect of racial composition on…

How at moments of dramatic change and a shifting social context do political actors alter their public identities? Put differently, how do political figures respond when positions with which they have been closely identified are no longer morally and electorally defensible and must be altered? Responses to identity challenge within institutional…

We replicate and extend John Shelton Reed's classic work on regional identification by examining and modeling the prevalence of the words "Dixie" and "Southern" in business names across 100 cities and four decades. We find that the instances of "Dixie" have dropped precipitously, although identification with the word…

Despite their longstanding interest in race, American sociologists have conducted little empirical research on sociodemographic patterns or longitudinal trends in "racial conceptualization"--that is, notions of what race is, how races differ, and the origins of race. This article outlines key empirical, methodological and theoretical…

Using data from the 2000 National Election Study, this research investigates the sources of the racial divide in support for capital punishment with a specific focus on white racism. After delineating a measure of white racism, we explore whether it can account for why a majority of African Americans oppose the death penalty while most whites…

Will multiracial identification resonate with future generations? Using the 2000 U.S. Census, I analyze the impact of a multiracial parent on the classification of children in four types of multiracial families (e.g., white/non-white, black/non-black). Compared to families where parents are of two different single-race backgrounds, parental…

Disorganization theories postulate that black men have largely abandoned their familial roles. Using the NSFH data, this article refutes the hypothesis of black men's familial disengagement by focusing on extended family integration. Black men are more likely than white men to live with or near extended kin, as well as to frequently see kin in…

This study addresses whether whites' rejection of affirmative action reflects an opposition to group-based preferences per se, independent of their attitudes toward blacks. Analysis of 1996 General Social Survey data shows that whites' attitude toward preferential hiring and promotion of blacks is predicted by their attitude toward preferential…

This research examines the individual-level and contextual correlates of punitive attitudes in the United States. Prior research suggests that the demographic composition and economic conditions of geographic areas influence public support for punitive policies. Yet, these findings rest on assumptions about individual perceptions of minority…

Children change their racial preference across the multiple requests made when traditional measures of racial preference are administered. Piaget views these changes as self-contradictory and due to cognitive incapacity. Data are, however, held to support the view that children intend to express a liking for dolls of both races. (RJ)

Attempts the analysis of race and ethnic relations by assessing the relevance of the race cycle, consensus, interdependence, and conflict frameworks for the construction of an explanation of the emergence, persistence, adaptation, and change of systems of ethnic differentiation. (Authors)

Tests Myrdal's predictions about racial attitude change, using responses to questions on school desegregation from 16 surveys. Finds that, although there has been a 30 percent increase in tolerance of school desegregation since 1954, cohort and education subgroups maintain consistent differences among themselves, and regional differences dissipate…

Among 2,107 Black Americans, lighter skin color was associated with greater education, income, occupational prestige; higher socioeconomic status (SES) of spouse; lower Black consciousness. Association between skin color and life chances in this sample was as strong as the effect of race (Black versus White), and it has persisted from 1950s to…

Skin tone variation within the United States' black population has long been associated with intraracial stratification. Skin tone differentials in socioeconomic status reflect both the inherited privileges of a mulatto elite and contemporary preferences for lighter skin. Three influential studies have claimed that such differentials in…