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Paul Sniderman, professor of political science at Stanford University, concluded that most White Americans are not racists. Although Americans may sometimes express a simple-minded, naïve, prejudiced view of Black people, this disappears when researchers delve more deeply into their true beliefs concerning equality. Sniderman’s views are outlined in his book Reaching beyond Race (1997), which he cowrote with political scientist Edward G. Carmines. Sniderman discovered that about as many White Americans believe in equality for African Americans as are opposed to the concept. His surveys led him to conclude that modern conflicts over racial policies are driven as much by a White person’s view of what the government should try to do as by any deep prejudice or racial hatred of African Americans. Sniderman found that many Americans, White and Black, share the basic values of liberalism: a belief in the equality of all human beings, a belief that government can be a positive force for social change, and a deep commitment to helping those in society who are disadvantaged. His surveys showed that it is a mistake to believe that before equality can be achieved, White values, based on prejudice, must be changed. It is not the prejudice of White individuals that prevents change, he argued, because many White individuals no longer express or hold racist views of Black inferiority. Sniderman characterized the overall impact of racial prejudice on political choices made by White individuals as very “modest.”