Re-evaluating intergroup dynamics in the South: Racial attitudes among Latino immigrants in Durham, NC

Area of Science:

• Sociology
• Social Psychology
• Immigration Studies

Background:

• Racial attitudes are crucial for understanding inter-group dynamics and ethno-racial hierarchies.
• Research on Latino racial attitudes has expanded, yet significant gaps persist, particularly concerning immigrant perspectives.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate Latino immigrants' attitudes towards Whites, Blacks, and other Latinos.
• To analyze these attitudes across multiple dimensions like perceived affluence, intelligence, and cultural behaviors.
• To evaluate theories of racial attitudes, including socio-demographic factors, social contact, perceived threat, and insecurity.

Main Methods:

• Examination of cross-group and cross-dimension variation in attitudes among Latino immigrants.
• Analysis of the influence of socio-demographic factors, social contact, perceived threat, and insecurity on racial attitudes.

Main Results:

• Latino attitudes do not uniformly support White superiority; intelligence perceptions are modest, and own cultural behaviors are rated higher than Whites'.
• Increased social contact correlates with more positive views of Blacks but more negative views of Whites and, to a lesser extent, other Latinos.
• Perceived threat lowers evaluations of all groups; insecurity increases negative attitudes towards Whites and Blacks while strengthening in-group preference.

Conclusions:

• For immigrant Latinos, integration and social contact can reduce adherence to White supremacy rather than universally improving out-group attitudes.
• The softening of anti-Black prejudice among immigrant Latinos is complicated by perceived threats from crime and anti-immigrant sentiments.