RJS and the notion of modern racism are discussed in the context of contemporary South Africa. With this in mind, this research examines race relations in the context of contemporary South Africa.
SOUTH AFRICA AND THE STUDY OF RACISM
In response to this, contemporary race theorists suggest a shift from the more direct, intrusive measures of racial attitudes to more indirect, sophisticated methods (e.g., Dovidio&Gaernter, 1986; Sears, 1981; . McConahay & Hough, 1976). One of the most important means of doing this has been to adapt both the content and the style of racial attitude measures.
OVERVIEW OF THE PRESENT RESEARCH
Racism has been understood in contrasting ways and its study depends on the historical context within which it has been examined. The next chapter attempts to distinguish between these specific conceptions and methodologies by presenting a historical overview of the study of racism.
CONCEPTUALISING RACISM
- Dual racial attitudes: The transition from old to contemporary racisms
- Symbolic and Modern racism
- Subtle prejudice
- Ambivalent racism
- Laissez-faire racism
McConahay developed the concept of modern racism from its symbolic form; however, the two. This helps justify the rejection of the outgroup based on logic and not prejudice.
CONTEMPORARY RACISM AND MEASUREMENT: CONCLUDING SUMMARY
To further contextualize the current research, the next chapter examines the measurement of racial attitudes in the context of South Africa.
EARLY SOUTH AFRICAN STUDIES
Black attitudes
Although studies of Black attitudes have been criticized on the grounds that research samples have been small and unrepresentative and that assessment methods have been inconsistent (Foster & Nel, 1991), some studies confirm a general finding, which suggests that Blacks reflect particularly favorable attitudes towards English. speaking whites (MacCrone Brett, 1963; Crijns, 1959; Edelstein, 1972; Van den Berghe, 1962, in Foster& Nel, 1991). In one study, Blacks rated English-speaking Whites almost equally with their own group (plug & Nieuwoudt, 1983, in Foster & Nel, 1991).
Attitudes of Indian and coloured South Africans
However, the studies once again predominantly highlight the distinction between Afrikaans and English-speaking whites, as Africans were also consistently rated unfavorably (MacCrone Lobban, 1975, in Foster& Nel, 1991).
CONTEMPORARY RACISM
However, a significantly more optimistic application of the subtle racism theory lies in the work of Duckitt, who has investigated the role of authoritarianism and subtle racism in white South African students (Duckitt, 1993). Duckitt also stands as one of the few to develop and examine the utility of a South African-conceived racial attitude measure based on.
SOUTH AFRICA AND RACISM STUDIES: CONCLUDING COMMENTS
The use of inadequate measures
This points to another particular problem, which is that there has been little attempt to formally establish the content domain that constitutes South African racism. In terms of sample bias, the South African studies are also subject to criticism on the basis of drawing conclusions from student samples.
AIMS
PROCEDURE
THE DEVELOPMENT OF A RACIAL ATTITUDE MEASURE FOR THE SOUTH AFRICAN CONTEXT
PHASE 1: IDENTIFYING RACIAL ATTITUDE INDICES: THE THEMATIC GROUPING OF A SAMPLE OF RACIAL ATTITUDE ITEMS
- Aims
- Sample and procedure
As such, each of the items that make up the aforementioned scales was examined more closely for recurring issues. The final list of themes considered indicative of international racial attitude articles, their definitions and examples of relevant articles placed under the themes are illustrated in Table 5.3; topics are presented in descending order of the number of articles placed under each topic.
PHASE 2: EXPLORING LOCAL INDICES OF RACISM: A THEMATIC ANALYSIS OF SOUTH AFRICAN STATEMENTS ON RACIAL ISSUES
One of the main sources of information contained in the database for the purpose of this study was the qualitative statements called "comments". The statements informed the development of the new scale in two ways; first, they helped to operationalize racism in contemporary South African society by providing a list of thematic concerns that characterize the context. South Africans generally believe that race relations in 1990-2001 are improving. (No. racial identity given in the original article).
Injustices of the past Perceptions that propose and “Will pile up the mud of the past 1990-2001 in South Africa, arguing that white people today contribute to better race relations in.
PHASE 3: DERIVING THEMES - COMPARING INTERNATIONAL AND LOCAL INDICES OF RACISM
- Comparing final themes
34; Radicals in the ANC government want to create new laws that will discriminate against whites. “Additionally, the theme “Recognition of Racism” in the South African dataset essentially describes the reverse content of that of the theme “Denial of Continued Discrimination” in the Similarly, it describes the repercussions of desegregation items in the South African dataset often incidents related to the theme 'White flight intentions' in the attitude dataset.
34; Radicals in the ANC government want to create new laws that will discriminate against whites.”
PHASE 4: DEVELOPMENT OF THE NEW MEASURE
- Item development
- Overall scale issues
In order to establish an element of face validity, the new items were subsequently presented and reviewed by colleagues who were also studying the topic of racism in contemporary South Africa. The high levels of poverty and unemployment in South Africa today have nothing to do with racism. In its efforts to combat the legacy of racism, the government ignores the victims, the plight of other groups in South Africa today.
We must prioritize the needs of black people to ensure a stable and prosperous South Africa.
SUMMARY DISCUSSION
Therefore, the South African database was an extremely useful tool to develop the new scale items. A distinct advantage to the transmission of people's expressions and the discourse used in the media has been that such local discursive reflections have served to create an immediate element of face validity for the new scale once the new articles have been informed. from the very population on which the scale was administered. The literal use of South African expressions of racial matters has created a general impression of the scale as a gauge of racial opinion.
The value of using the database as an aid to new item development also extended to the issue of ensuring that the scale was relevant to multiple races.
THE RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN RACIAL JUSTICE SCALE
METHODOLOGY
- Data analysis
In terms of the demographic questions, the following information was required from respondents: their gender, age, race (the response options were black, white, Indian and coloured; these categories correspond to the racial groupings used in the latest South African version of 2001 were used). African census, citizenship (response options, 'yes' or 'no' to the question: are you a South African citizen?), and a brief indication of their highest completed level of education (response options are: primary school, secondary school In this study, the participants use the semantic scale to rate each of four racial groups in terms of: (1) how warm or cold, and (2) how close they consider themselves, in terms of their feelings toward each racial group. Some of the first research in South Africa using social distance measures were by MacCrone (1937, in Foster, 1991).
Respondents in this study had to rate their willingness to interact with each of the racial groups on the following four levels of intimacy; (1) in one's country, (2) at school, university or by profession, (3) at home (as personal friends) and (4) through close kinship.
RESULTS
As such, rotated varimax solutions, yielding four factors, were conducted for each of the Black and Indian samples. These accounted for 58% and 56% of the common item variance in each of the White and Indian samples respectively. The White and Indian samples, however, exhibited fairly good correlations on most criteria with each of the scales.
Regarding the old-fashioned racism items, the RJS correlations were significant only in the white sample and not the Indian.
SUMMARY DISCUSSION
In the same light, however, it could be argued that the strong correlations between these racism criteria suggest that Duckitt's scale demonstrated better construct validity than the RJS and thus better evidence of success as a measure of racism. It is also particularly noteworthy that the Duckitt scale appeared to be the most successful predictor of today's racist criterion of policy voting. In this regard, there is also evidence that the Duckitt scale was more successful as a measure of subtle forms of racism than the RJS.
This is particularly important in light of the aforementioned studies, which highlight the importance of both subtle and more traditional forms of racism in contemporary South Africa, especially among white South Africans (Duckitt, 2003; Pillay-Singh and Collins, 2004). .
CLOSING DISCUSSION
It found a major discrepancy between different racial groups' ideas about what, how and who the concept of racism affects in contemporary South African society. It found that 63 percent of a sample of black South Africans felt less discriminated against in contemporary South Africa than 53 percent of a sample of whites. This suggests that, despite the contemporary racism argument, the traditional dynamics characteristic of old-fashioned racism are still present in contemporary South African society.
In short, it would appear that there is value in using and comparing both styles of assessment in racial attitude studies in contemporary South Africa.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
Do you think it is best for children to go to schools in their own neighborhoods, even if that means the schools will be segregated? answer options - yes, no, not sure/other). Do you think white and black kids should go to the same schools in Akron or separate schools? answer options - the same, separate, don't know/other). Do you think every school should have approximately one-third black students? answer options - yes, no, not sure/other).
Do you think it's mostly the blacks' fault or mostly the schools' fault. response options - black, schools, both, don't know/other).
PHASE 3: CONTROVERSIAL STATEMENT EXAMPLES
There is a] "connection between the injustices of the past and the problems of the present, for example, poverty and discrimination". The Area Segregation Act and the Land Act of the past will be repealed, and the Population Census Act will be suspended. The media reflects the public opinion of the people of the country and therefore their racism.
Pessimism with the Deracialization of working class consciousness must still be related to change in the country.
QUESTIONNAIRE
Please indicate your answer to the statement by placing a cross in the most appropriate box. If you feel completely neutral about the statement, put a cross in the cell marked "N".
White people today should not have to take responsibility for the injustices of South Africa's past. The majority of people leaving South Africa are simply racists who cannot handle desegregation. The crime and violence that threatens South Africa today is largely due to the history of racism and aggression in South Africa.
South African institutions such as the media and big business still reflect the racism of the past.
Positive action in employment, education and sport is needed to address the inequalities of the past. Although the living conditions of black people need to be improved, it is crucial for the stable development of the country that white people maintain political control. It is important that drastic steps are taken to ensure a much fairer distribution of this country's wealth.
RESEARCH ETHICS
As you will see, the questions are about racial and social issues in South Africa. We want to use your answers to test social psychological theory; we are not interested in testing you and you remain anonymous. Sign this consent form to indicate that you are willing to participate in the study.
DSR - FACTOR ANALYSES
SUBTLE, OLD-FASHIONED, AND POLICY ITEMS - FACTOR ANALYSES
