Report on White American Culture

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Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. Rationale for Research
III. Method
IV. Accounts of Behavior
V. Accounts of Feelings
APPENDIX A. - Materials Sent to Participants
APPENDIX B - Questions Asked of Each Group
APPENDIX D - Group Instructions and Guidelines
APPENDIX E - Chart - First-hand Accounts of Racial and Ethnic Activity
APPENDIX F - Chart - First-hand Accounts of Feelings

**First-hand Accounts of Racial and Ethnic Activity**
No.	Speaker's status	Statuses of others	Role speaker plays toward others	Setting/ location	Activity or event that occurs	Moral of the story
1.	minister	- congregation members - whites - people of color - communities of color� - Latinos - African Americans - Caribbean Americans - Asians - Indians - Pakistanis - Chinese	- witnessing - ministering to	nonspecific	Racial differences become apparent in how people view issues, with a large difference between whites and people of color.	Difference is interesting
2.	person	- Italian - Irish person - German .................. - person of color	meeting	nonspecific	Not aware of color when meeting a white person. ................................. Aware of color when meeting a person of color.	This lack of awareness is normal. ................................. This awareness is painful.
3.	friend	- a person met ................. - confidant	- recalling color .......................... - replying to confidant's question about person met the day before.	- outside of home .............. - home	Speaker could not recall color of person met.	This non-awareness is what one should strive for.
4.	high school student .............. college student	young black girl ............... same young black girl, now older	partner .............. friend within a circle of friends	high school .............. college	Had the best time together	None given.
5.	neighbors	black neighbors	neighborly acquaintence	neighbor- hood	Relations with black neighbors were cordial, but the black neighbors were standoffish.	White and black people are becoming increasingly separated.
6.	employee .............. dating partner	employer ................. a black guy	subjected by employer to an organizational culture of discrimination .............. pleasing	workplace .............. nonspecific	Employer was reprehensible with practices; effect reached into employee's private life.	Finding that society condoned this discriminatory behavior was shocking and different from lessons learned growing up in the home.
7.	employ- ment recruiter	clients ................. candidates	pleasing .............. placing	office	Clients demand white candidates ................................. Black candidates suspect recruiter because recruiter is white	Racism is structural; you get flack from both black and white people.
8.	employ- ment recruiter	a kid right out of school	working with him	working with him	Recruiter finally beginning to win trust of candidate	Would have been easier if recruiter were black.
9.	trainee	- Hispanics - whites - black people	fellow participant	nonspecific	Learned to trust one another over a 10-month period	Reaching this level of trust was wonderful.
10.	employ- ment recruiter	client/friend ................. a black man	hiding personal information from .............. dating	nonspecific	Under pressure from dating partner to reveal interracial relationship to client	Living a lie. Role conflict.
11.	girlfriend .............. neighbor- hood child	girlfriend ................. black people	friendship .............. aware of but never met	school .............. neighborhood	Girlfriend had a black friend; speaker could never do that as child. ................................. Never brought into contact with black neighbors on block.	None given.
12.	friend	childhood friend, as an adult	listening	nonspecific	Speaker's friend said she had never felt different until moving to speaker's neighborhood as a child.	If you weren't the right race and religion, you were made to feel weird.
13.	high school student	a very large black component, about 20%	witnessing	high school	High school had more people of color than elementary school; whites and people of color moved in separate social circles on separate academic tracks.	That was how it was (as a segregated structure)
14.	elementary student .............. high school student	other students all white ................. one-third of students were minority	witnessing	elementary school .............. high school	Proportion of people of color in school increased between elementary and high school.	But we didn't think of it that way. (Colorblind)
15.	son	parents	witnessing	ethnic neighborhood	Lived together for safety reasons, unfamiliarity with English.	Not all segregation is bad.
16.	daughter	- parents - non-Jewish boys - Catholics - black people	witnessing	home	Being socialized by parents to believe that difference was bad.	The message may be couched in other terms, but we are taught that other people's cultures are bad.
17.	grammar school student	- Catholics - non- Catholics - parents - nuns	witnessing	community	There were two schools in town, public and Catholic. Kids sent to Catholic school because of stricter discipline.	Choice of sending kids to Catholic school had nothing to do with color.
18.	Older member of household	young people	witnessing	home	Young people say appalling things. Maybe they get it from TV images of blacks as criminals.	Race relations are becoming polarized.
19.	high school student	black friend	inviting home	speaker's neighborhood in 1960s	Black friend said he better not go to speaker's home.	Speaker did not realize until later his black friend's sense of danger about entering white social setting.
20.	town citizen	mayor	- overhearing - conversing	nonspecific	Mayor makes a pejorative remark about an African American.	Racism was casually and deeply embedded in the culture.
21.	- friend - godmother - aunt	- best friend - godson - niece - nephew	witnessing	Northeastern suburban community	The high school band, which is nationally competitive, only has one black band member. The music teacher is white as well.	This is a very white setting, protected by community-level structures for preserving its whiteness.
22.	college student	- students coming off the farms - a black - a diverse student body	witnessing	College in rural portion of Northeastern state	(White) kids off the farm were unable to adjust to diversity since their previous education, via TV, left them with preconceived notions.	The country is changing and some white people can not acquire the skills needed to meet this change.
23.	parent	children	educating one's children	small urban community	Decided to send children to public school with mix of people of color, sacrificing academic quality for exposure to a diverse student body. Kids have turned out better for it.	Learning about diversity will be a key component of every child's education and life skills.
24.	employ- ment recruiter	companies that encourage hiring of people of color ................. companies that discourage hiring of people of color	assisting	corporate	Meeting client needs	Employers' hiring preferences are racially structured.
25.	community resident	- Korean - Japanese - Pakistani - Indian - Sri Lankan - dark- complexioned people - professionals - doctors - teachers - Nissan executives - African Americans	witnessing	suburban community	Community changed from lily white with one family of color to one-third representation of well-to-do people of color over last 10 years.	Change happens, sometimes quickly. It is not necessarily bad.
26.	girl scout leader	- Asian families - Japanese families - Korean families - Japanese women - Korean women	recruiting membership	suburban community	Difficult to recruit from Japanese and Korean neighborhoods because cultural norms precluded Japanese and Korean women from joining activities outside of families.	Recognizing differences is a useful and necessary skill. Difference does not necessarily mean bad.
27.	trainee	- black friends - militant black group	- fellow trainee - being trained during one session by militant group	impoverished Northeastern city	Militant black group disparages white establishment, with ranting and raving.	It is difficult being singled out by one's race and held accountable by extremists. Multi-racial friendships make it less difficult.
28.	mother	son	witnessing	nonspecific	Son, when in Taiwan, was called "big nose" and realized what it felt to be a minority.	The feeling of "being a racial minority" is not available to us in our culture, but it is nonetheless real and something we can experience under changed circumstances.
29.	trainee	militant black community activists	- listening - learning	impoverished Northeastern city	Learned how to be a squatter in an impoverished community.	Some people are desperate, and they are usually not white.
30.	godmother	- black godson - entire church	attending ritual	Christening in black Baptist church	Attended Christening of black godson; only white in church; wonderful experience	Interracial contact can be nonthreatening, enjoyable.
31.	the only white	black congregations	unspecified	in the shelter	unspecified	Interracial contact and being only white is comfortable, but this experience occurs only in one setting.
32.	wife	- husband - husband's secretary - husband's secretary's brother (deceased)	attending funeral	black church	With husband, were only whites there. Did not feel out of place, maybe due to relationship to husband's secretary.	Personal relationships are an important way to bridge differences.
33.	- graduate student in business school - only woman in class	- male teacher - classmates	having everyone's "eyes on" her	graduate business school classroom	Instructor felt student did not belong, on account of her gender. Student understood what it meant to be a visible minority.	It's not just race, but gender as well. Experience of discrimination helps one empathize with people of color.
34.	- traveler - husband and father	- white sister and husband - wife and daughter - a very large military person	- disembarking plane - carrying luggage	Airport in West African country	On trip to visit sister in Peace Corps was intimidated by local military man who refused to get out of the way.	Sometimes it is us who are different and vulnerable.
35.	traveler	unspecified	foreigner	Streets of 99% Muslim country in West Africa	Everything was unfamiliar.	This was very uncomfortable, to lose the familiarity of one's culture.
36.	person	- Martin Luther King - Jesse Jackson - black Muslims - five whites	listening to speakers	Mid-western city during race riots in 1960s, at burned out A&P	As one of five whites in nearly all black crowd, walked up to Jessie Jackson; was apprehended, shoved up against wall and frisked.	It is debilitating to be put in a position of powerlessness.
37.	audience member	black woman speaker almost all white audience	listening	nonspecific	Black woman told nearly all white audience, "You need to figure out who you are."	We need to figure out who we are.
38.	minister	man	listening to concerns	nonspecific	Man said he tried attending another church, but it was too "ethnic."	It's not that they're ethnic and you're not.
39.	shelter worker	two young Hispanic kids, one black and one not	helping kids secure a ride home	at shelter	One kid asked speaker if she was white. Speaker felt she had transcended a racial stereotype in this child's eyes.	It feels good not to be viewed as stereotypical of being white when seen in the eyes of a person of color.
40.	friend	other white friends	witnessing	non-specific	Speaker's white friends would be condescending when talking to blacks as if to make up for being white.	Whatever it may take to improve race relations, condescension is not it.
41.	seminary student	church official, lecturer	listening	college	Lecturer said the church has been both scandalous and glorious.	The white race may be viewed the same way.
42.	neighbor- hood child	- neighbors who had been in Nazi concentration camps - American Jews	neighbor	suburban Northeastern town	Neighbors formerly in camps often resented American Jews.	Being "different" invokes feelings of embarrassment, shame and guilt.
43.	student .............. son	student body (one-third Jewish, one-third Catholic and one-third Protestant) ................. father	witnessing .............. learning	school	Thought composition of school reflected country. Told by father it did not.	Our childhood concepts of what is normal are often wrong.
44.	friend	best friend who was Japanese American	friendship	nonspecific	Growing up, the speaker's best friend was Japanese American.	Our childhood concepts of what is normal are often wrong.
45.	college student	students from deep south or midwest	witnessing	college	Many white students had never met Jewish people or had personal contact with people of color.	Whites differ in what they regard as normal vis-a-vis ethnic and racial difference.
46.	college student	sociology professor	discussing	college classroom	Professor had students identify their roles; emphasized people usually identify with family and occupational roles.	Racial and ethnic identities are often viewed as less important than familial and occupational identities.
47.	minister	- well-to-do family - Hispanic family	coordinating wedding arrangements	church	Two families with drastically different ideas on appropriate wedding decorations are scheduled for ceremonies on the same day.	Celebrating different traditions is difficult to do while keeping people together.
48.	family member	older relatives who immigrated to the U.S.	witnessing	nonspecific	Relatives had strong feeling of America as land of opportunity.	We need to recover and/or instill this feeling in all U.S. citizens.
49.	friend since childhood	friend since childhood	discussing views	nonspecific	Learned as children in 1960s that treating people as members of groups is stereotyping, and that is bad.	Treating people as individuals is no longer considered appropriate, but will be in the future.
50.	child	white people	witnessing	large Southern city	Whites became a minority in the city, but not in the suburbs; still retained power.	Being a numerical racial minority is not necessarily threatening.
51.	person	- Latino people - white people - black people - American black - West Indian black - Hispanics	witnessing	Large Southern city	Balance of racial groups existed with no one group dominating.	Being a numerical racial minority is not necessarily threatening if no single group is dominant.
52.	child	other children	talking	school	When growing up, all kids had watched the same TV programs the evening before.	Nowadays society is becoming very fragmented, in media offerings and otherwise.
53.	Canadian	- Canadian government - French people - English people	witnessing	Quebec	Government holds that Canada is bilingual, but French people must learn English, not vice versa.	Those in power have the say about cultural practices.
54.	wife	- husband - Jamaican supervisor - West Indian supervisor - American black supervisor	witnessing	corporation	In husband's work setting, next level of management has three black supervisors, each of whom has a different cultural heritage.	Race alone is too simplistic a way to view people. Ethnicity is important, too.
55.	patient	medical staff	donating blood	nonspecific	Identified self as "other" on forms, rather than "white."	Labels are bad, annoying.
56.	clerical worker	employer	preparing job bulletins	government offices	Must collect race-based statistics as part of the job.	Race is highlighted by our government.
57.	minister	phone caller	listening	nonspecific	Caller wanted to know religion of speaker before making a complaint. Speaker would not reveal information.	Does not like presumptions made about self based on group membership.
58.	- worker - boss who is black	phone caller	listening	work	Could not tell caller was black due to strong regional accent. Black boss also could not tell.	Our stereotypes fail us, especially on the phone.
59.	- wife - dinner guest	- husband - other dinner guests	attending a dinner party	nonspecific	Someone asked husband what he did. Husband refused to say all evening; made other guests uneasy.	People have a strong need to classify other people.
60.	child .............. adult worker	no black people ................. all minorities	witnessing .............. co-worker	nonspecific .............. work	Life as a child was sheltered, with no contact with people of color. ................................. As only white in department at work, learning a lot about minority cultures.	Being raised in a segregated setting leads to an impoverished education about other cultures.
61.	child	a melting pot	neighbors	Northeastern urban community	Became acquainted with different cultures.	Exposure to a culture is the key to learning about it.
62.	child	black people	witnessing	community	Saw Jim Crow water fountains and blacks seated at the back of the bus.	It was distressing to see this and to realize white people were the cause of it.
63.	friend	black friend	listening	nonspecific	Black friend describes being followed by security guards in stores.	It is distressing to hear this.
64.	youth	- security guard - store manager	customer	store	Speaker was refused entry to store by guard due to age. On complaining, manager let him in.	Color does not matter. Age does.
65.	teenager, new kid on block	- neighborhood kids - a person of color	neighborhood kid	new neighborhood, mostly white	Moved into predominantly white neighborhood at age 17; befriended a person of color; subjected to hostile attitudes by neighbors.	Sometimes color does matter, and it is unpleasant when it does.
66.	mother	- black girl - daughter's classmate	talking	unspecified	Speaker remarked to daughter that a classmate was black. Daughter asked, "What's black?"	Children do not learn about racial and ethnic difference naturally; they must be taught.
67.	person	- people who grew up with speaker - whites - blacks - Oriental person - Spanish person - dudes	speaking to, or about, people racially different	nonspecific	Speaker has made racist remarks because it's in the culture, but his friends know he's not racist, and he criticizes others when they make racist remarks.	Saying something racist is not necessarily a true measure of one's feelings about others.
68.	sales manager	- salesman - black customers	supervising	large-ticket retail outlet	Salesman said to manager, "I know how to handle these people." Manager tells salesman to change attitude, respect customers as people.	Categorizing people by race is wrong, and bad business.
69.	person	persons familiar with city	talking	Northeastern city	People assume speaker grew up in an all white neighborhood; change attitudes and are more open when speaker says he grew up in diverse neighborhood.	People's stereotypes about you affect how they treat you.
70.	child	parents	witnessing	nonspecific	Family arrived in U.S. in 1960s without clear understanding of race in U.S. Seeing race riots shook them up.	Race is treated differently in the U.S. than in the rest of the world.
71.	worker	department next to speaker's	witnessing	work	All black staff (but one) interpret events in racial terms because supervisors and higher-ups are white.	The social structure has nothing to do with it; it's an excuse.
72.	business owner	black employee, laborer	employing	repair shop	Black employee works two jobs, does menial work, teaches values to his children.	Individuals are made by their own efforts, not by structural forces.