Racial attitudes in young children as a function of interracial contact in the public schools

The relative effects of integrated and segregated schooling on racial attitudes were studied in a comparison of young children attending all-black, all-white, and integrated schools. Results of this photo-choice study suggest that segregated classes discourage realistic perceptions of the excluded race and promote a preference for whites among whites and blacks, whereas interracial schooling contributes to acceptance of blacks by all students and has especially profound and complex effects on black children.