White Americans Continue to Communicate "Strong Social Distance Preferences"

White racial attitudes over time: Data from the General Social Survey.  (Journalist's Resource, 8/14/2014)

In 2008, just under 30% of respondents sez it's OK for home sellers to discriminate.   The scholars caution against simplistic pronouncements but note that the overall record of GSS data “strongly points to a large and growing orbit of social and political acceptance for African-Americans. This too is borne out by manifold behavioral evidence: the growth and size of the black middle class, declining levels of racial residential segregation, and even the election of Barack Obama as the 44th (and first African American) president of the United States.” However, “despite accepting integration as a general principle and a small minority presence in schools, neighborhoods or other public social spaces, whites express strong social distance preferences; indeed, a racial hierarchy of association remains, with African Americans at or near its bottom.” -

 Source:  The New York Times, 4/30/2014