Exploring the Racial Divide: Blacks, Whites, and Opinion on National Policy

Abstract

Black and white Americans disagree consistently and often substantially in their views on national policy. This racial divide is most pronounced on policies that intrude conspicuously on the fortunes of blacks and whites, but it is also apparent on a wide array of social welfare issues where race is less obviously in play. Our analysis takes up the question of why blacks and whites differ so markedly, distin- guishing among four alternative inter- pretations: one centers attention on underlying differences of class, an- other on political principles, a third on social identity, and the fourth on audi- ence. Our results are complicated but coherent. We discuss their implica- tions for the meaning of group inter- est, speculate on the conditions un- der which the racial divide might close (or widen) in the foreseeable future, and suggest why we should not wish racial differences in opinion to disappear.