Date of Conferral

2023

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Public Policy and Administration

Advisor

Ross C. Alexander

Abstract

An argument that has gained prominence recently is that race is/will no longer be a significant factor in explaining any Black - White gaps. The argument is that in the post-Civil Rights era, the implementation of affirmative action and antidiscrimination policies at local, state, and federal levels has closed, if not almost erased, the gaps between Blacks and Whites. Research, however, has disputed the claims of proponents of color-blindness that issues of race are on the decline and will no longer be a factor in explaining racial inequalities between Blacks and Whites. This study used General Social Survey 2021 data to examine discrepancies in race, occupation, socioeconomic index, income/wealth, and social class between Blacks and Whites using multiple regression. The principal finding suggests that the inequalities between Blacks and Whites are not narrowing in 21st-century America. Furthermore, this study suggests that there are still significant differences in class identification between Blacks and Whites, and that factors such as wealth, occupation, income, education, and class origin play a role in determining class identification. Because there is overwhelming support for closing the gap between the wealthy and poor in the country, it is proposed that poor communities have equal access to the same curriculum, resources, and trained, experienced, and caring teachers/staff as wealthy White communities starting with prekindergarten. With the implementation of the best curriculum, a uniform standard for all schools, the same quality and skill programs for minorities as for Whites, and the removal of racialized barriers to education, Black–White inequalities/gaps may begin to close.

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