How Does Race Matter? White Male College Students' Perspectives on Institutional Racism and Affirmative Action.

This study examined several facets of institutional racism from the vantage point of 32 white male undergraduates at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The focus was on the situation of minorities already enrolled in the institution and on the perceived equity of certain steps taken, or to be taken, to support their academic progress, social adjustment, and competitiveness as job-seekers or graduate school applicants. This qualitative/interpretive study highlighted certain differences in perspective between those who do and those who do not endorse various race-targeted, pro-active initiatives on the part of the institution. Data was gathered by semi-structured, one-on-one interviews with subjects, aged 20 to 35 years. All subjects had substantial full-time or part-time work experience; they were evenly divided between working class/blue collar and professional/managerial families of origin. Support for affirmative action admissions seemed to be associated with a more expansive construction of collective accountability vis-a-vis equality of opportunity. Subjects readily acknowledged the salience of intra-group solidarity to group advancement and were not insensitive to the sense of social dislocation or culture shock that minorities might encounter on a white-majority campus. Actual comments from subjects are included in the report. (Contains 34 references.) (NAV)