Analysis of NORC and DAS data from 1956 to 1980 shows continuous increases in support for equal treatment or equal status for minority group members. This change is found to result largely from a shift in the overall cultural environment in America. Education is found to have a constant effect in reducing prejudice even in periods of time and in subcultures generally hostile toward egalitarianism. Evidence shows the more educated have more access to sources of correct information. It is asserted that on the question of basic equality among men, women, and various racial or ethnic minorities the answer supported by facts is that all groups are quite equal in all innate abilities and potentials. Education is seen to give one greater access to this truth. Regional differences between the non-South and South, while large forty years ago, have continuously decreased. By 1980 there remain only small differences with the South still less egalitarian on most measures. It is predicted that egalitarian attitudes toward all groups will continue to increase in America because all factors associated with more egalitarianism, interdependence, organization and power of minority groups, and sharing of a common culture are increasing.

Recent political and cultural trends have led to an evaluation of the meaning of marriage within American society, and especially marriage as it concerns couples of the same sex. However, little research has been done to find out how attitudes toward same-sex marriage might vary according to race and ethnicity. Drawing on data from the 2004 National Politics Study, the author investigates same-sex marriage attitudes and tests hypotheses concerning the attitudes of various American race-ethnic groups. This study employs multinomial logistic regression analysis to compare attitudes of African Americans, Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites. Results indicate that even when socio demographic factors such as education and gender are controlled for, ethnic groups still differ in their attitudes toward this topic. Analyses also indicate that the relationship between race/ethnicity and attitudes toward same-sex unions does not vary by gender and that foreign birth explains the relationship between Hispanic ethnicity and attitudes toward same-sex marriage.

Thesis (M. Soc. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1974. / Typewritten.

Traditionally, the racial views of whites towards blacks have been studied in the context of old-fashioned styles of racism. This meant that, methodologically, attitude items were often direct and crude in content, reflecting the openly racist sentiment of the time. Recent research, however, provides evidence to suggest that racism has changed and people no longer endorse or support blatantly racist expression. As a result, racial attitude research methods have had to adapt from obtrusive, to more sophisticated, unobtrusive methods. Over 10 years since its first democratic election, South Africa stands as a particularly important context in which to explore the racial views of people and more specifically, the theories of contemporary racisms; yet, research in this area remains largely unexplored. From a methodological perspective, South African research has also been flawed with 2 fundamental problems. First, few locally developed racial attitude measures exist, compelling the use of modified international measures. These scales, however, may prove problematic in that they may not demonstrate adequate content and face validity for the South African context. Second, this research reflects a sample bias of studying the views of white students. In response to these methodological flaws, the present research set out to develop a contemporary, multi-racial response measure of racial attitudes for the South African context. The Racial Justice Scale (RJS) was developed in accordance with the stylistic requirements of contemporary theories of racism on the basis of 2 sources of information; (1) a database of racial attitude items; and (2) a database of over 7000 discursive statements expressed by multiple race groups in the country on racial issues in South Africa. These expressions were derived from various newspaper articles, ranging from the years 1977 - 2001. Initial explorations of the RJS indicated it to be highly reliable for both whites and Indians (cronbach alpha's were 0.82 and 0.72 respectively), however, not as effective for blacks and coloureds. The RJS and the notion of contemporary racism is discussed in the context of contemporary South Africa. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.

This qualitative study examined Japanese students' study abroad experiences in Vancouver. I conceptually framed study abroad as contested space where global and local (national) discourses converge and shape these students' experience. Based on this conceptual understanding of study abroad, I reviewed three global and local (national) discourses that were relevant to Japanese students' study abroad experiences: neocolonialism, "internationalization," and nihonjinron (discussions of Japanese uniqueness). These three discourses were monitored throughout Japanese students' study abroad experiences to examine how they would shape these students' experiences and how these students would negotiate to construct their experiences in the midst of these discourses. Furthermore, as the sub-theme of the study, I examined Japanese students' study abroad experiences in terms of Edward Said's (1995) hope for the creation of non-essentialist, nondominative, and non-coercive form of knowledge. I examined the possibility of study abroad experience as a transformative educational experience that helps students decipher the hegemonic and ideological limitations on their knowledge of "race" and nation. From May to November 1999,1 conducted participatory observations and semi-structured interviews with seventeen Japanese male students who had resided in Vancouver for more than six months. The data suggested that the three discourses of necolonialism, "internationalization," and nihonjinron (discussions of Japanese uniqueness) were manifested to shape the Japanese students' experiences. I argued that as a consequence of the manifestation of these three discourses, the Japanese students rendered "Canadians" into the "Other." Furthermore, this bi-polar and essentialist understanding of "Self and "Others" led to their objectification and commodification of "Canadians" as a medium for "internationalizing" themselves. I conclude that study abroad experiences in Vancouver was not effective in helping the Japanese students go beyond the global (neocolonial) and local (national) ideological discourses. Rather, the study suggested that the Japanese students' study abroad experiences reinforced their preconceived sense of human difference, leading them to view "Canadians" as discontinuous from "us," which enabled them to commodity them merely as a medium for "internationalizing" themselves. Given the findings of the study, I suggest for employing a postcolonial perspective in the examination of foreign students' study abroad experience. I also call for critical re-evaluation of study abroad experiences of foreign students, in particular, Japanese students and for the attempt to turn study abroad into a transformative learning opportunity that helps students move beyond hegemonic imperial discourses of "race" and nation.

No description available.

The Greeks and Romans were acquainted with dark skinned people from Africa from an early stage. It has been generally accepted that such people were referred to as aithiopias; by the Greeks, and modem commentators have accepted the term to be a synonym of the English term 'Negro' . Such an assumption ignores the wide variety of connotations associated with the terms aithiops and aithiopia. Furthermore, the trend in scholarship in the field of race relations in antiquity has been to study the interaction between Greeks and foreigners based on implicit, and often invalid, theory. The aim of this study is to examine the uses of the terms aithiops and aithiopia in the context of Greek ideology. Previous studies in the field have employed naive semiological approaches to the issue of racism in Greece and Rome, whereby references to Negroes have simply been weighed up in order to determine the extent of negative attitude toward Negroes in antiquity. In this regard, the following study departs radically from the approaches of its predecessors in that, although it is not intended as a narrow linguistic study of the terms aithiops and aithiopia, the focus of the examination concerns the semantics of these terms and the connotations thereof. Through an analysis of these terms in their ideological context, not only do we gain an insight into the processes which underlie Greek perceptions of group boundaries, but we may gain a deeper understanding of our own perceptions of race and racism. The study is confined to pre-Hellenistic literature (although later works are often used to illuminate Classical and Archaic passages) since it was the perceptions of the authors from this period which shaped the ideas of subsequent authors. In addition, during the Hellenistic period, the focus of Greek literary activity shifted from Athens to Alexandria, allowing Hellenistic authors far more contact with Negroes than was enjoyed by their predecessors. For the purpose of this study, Lycophron's Alexandria has been assumed to be the last pre-Hellenistic work, although this point may be debatable. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1997.

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to determine if the attitudes of a selected group of American high school students towards a different nation in general and Iranian's in particular would be affected as a result of presenting them with factual information about that culture through the use of audio-visual aids.One hundred and twenty high school students between ages of 13 - 18 who attended Burris Laboratory School in Muncie, IN. were randomly selected and assigned to an experimental and a control group. The number of students who responded to the questionnaire and participated in the study was 77. There were 40 students in the experimental and 37 students in the control group. A new semantic differential scale was developed by the researcher in order to obtain measures of attitude towards Iranians. In order to validate the measurement instrument a pilot study was performed. The study utilized a Posttest- only design.The experimental group received factual information about Iranian culture through a handout and also two series of slide-tape presentations, which were prepared by the investigator. The control group received no treatment. The information on the handout and slides was about Iranian life style, education, religion, art, tribes, industry, clothing, and architecture. The information was intended to be factual rather than political propaganda. Two weeks after the experimental group received the second series of slides the revised semantic differential scale was administered to both control and experimental groups. The data was analyzed by a 2 by 2 by 2 multivariate analysis of variance. The following null hypotheses were tested:1 - There is no significant difference between the means of the experimental and control groups for various outcome factors of the semantic differential scale when considered simultaneously.2 - There is no significant difference between the means of male and female respondents for experimental and control groups for various outcome factors of the semantic differential scale when considered simultaneously. Findings:1- There were no significant multivariate interactions (2 or 3 ways).2- There were no significant sex differences.3- There was a significant treatment difference in a multivariate sense. However the interpretation of the univariates did not permit the attribution of differences to either factor singly. Rather a linear composite of the 2 factors is needed to explain the difference found. Generally these linear composites are not interpretable in a conceptual sense.Conclusion:The results of the study suggest that giving factual information about Iranian culture through use of slide-tape presentation can bring about some change in the attitude of high school students about Iranian people. However the study failed to identify the nature of this change. Further study is needed to identify better the nature of the change as a result of giving factual information. / Department of Secondary, Higher, and Foundations of Education

Thesis (M.A.P.S.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [71]-72).