Racial Discrimination and Public Policy in the United States. Center on International Race Relations: Race and Nations Series.

On December 19, 1966, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted a resolution dealing with racial discrimination and public policy sponsored by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR). The title of this resolution was "Guidelines for a Study of the Effectiveness of Policies and Measures Against Racial Discrimination." This study was to be done in several nations, and the Institute of Race Relations at the University of Denver was assigned by UNITAR the task of research in the U.S. This study will necessitate a monumental undertaking involving conceptualization, theory, and research. The purposes of this book are therefore rather limited and are to be taken as preliminary or exploratory: (1) to develop a theoretical perspective on the nature of discrimination and racial discrimination in particular; (2) to clarify the relationship of racial discrimination to such other concepts as racism, prejudice, and segregation; (3) to summarize the patterns of racial discrimination against black Americans from 1619 to World War II; (4) to attempt to ascertain the extent to change in the patterns of racial discrimination and inequality between World War II and the present; (5) to attempt to ascertain what factors have produced these changes; and, (6) to itemize areas and problems for further research. (Author/JM)