The Mass Media and the Dynamics of American Racial Attitudes

Paul M. Kellstedt explains the variation in Americans’ racial attitudes over the last half-century, particularly the relationship between media coverage of race and American public opinion on race. The analyses reveal that racial policy preferences have evolved in an interesting and unpredicted (if not unpredictable) fashion over the past fifty years. There have been sustained periods of liberalism, where the public prefers an active government to bring about racial equality, and these periods are invariably followed by eras of conservatism, where the public wants the government to stay out of racial politics altogether. These opinions respond to cues presented in the national media. Kellstedt then examines the relationship between attitudes on the two major issues of the twentieth century: race and the welfare state.

The Black Image in the White Mind: Media and Race in America

Living in a segregated society, white Americans learn about African Americans not through personal relationships but through the images the media show them. The Black Image in the White Mind offers a comprehensive look at the intricate racial patterns in the mass media and how they shape the ambivalent attitudes of Whites toward Blacks.

Strip-Searched at O’Hare

Reporter Renee Ferguson convincingly uncovers racial discrimination by immigration agents at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.

Race and Risk: HUD’s $67 Million Plan and Housing Deal

This first appeared as a front-page story in which journalists Craig Flournoy and Randy Lee Loftis expose the government’s plans to force thousands of poor black residents to live in a Superfund toxic site.