Is Pollution 'A White Thing'? Racial Differences in Preadults' Attitudes

Clear and consistent differences between blacks‘ and whites’ attitudes toward environmental issues were found in a stratified random sample survey of 2,012 Florida preadults. Blacks were much less likely than whites to consider environmental quality a serious problem worthy of community concern, to favor environmental goals, and to define pollution in complex terms; regression analysis showed that these differences persisted even when factors thought to explain racial differences in attitudes—SES, years of education, exposure to information, actual and perceived pollution levels, sense of efficacy—were taken into account. Evidence suggests that even among children, racial differences in attitudes are not spurious, but indicate a divergence between the black and white subcultures in interpretations of public issues