Growing Up in Racially Diverse versus Homogeneous Communities: Which Is Better?

For decades, social scientists have asked how individuals of different racial and ethnic backgrounds feel about and act toward one another. Many have examined tolerance for diversity as a function of the racial composition of the community. This paper takes a slightly different angle on these familiar questions: Are democratic values, including political knowledge, participation and tolerance, found at higher levels in racially diverse environments as opposed to racially homogeneous ones? In other words, are whites living among other whites, and African-Americans among other African-Americans, and Latinos living in predominantly Latino communities more tolerant of diversity, more knowledgeable about politics, and more likely to participate than their counterparts in heterogeneous places? I examine the attitudes and behaviors of young people in grades 9-12 across the United States in conjunction with the racial make-up of the communities in which they are growing up. I expect to find that racial diversity has a positive influence on some values, but that environments of racial homogeneity give rise to other important democratic values. The discussion deals with two important but difficult issues: the balance of values that are important in a democracy but that are fostered by differing circumstances, as well as the feasibility of altering the racial make-up of communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]