Associations between Ideologies and the Dependent Variables
It
is my hypothesis that ideologies held by the respondents will be
positively related to attitudes, comforts, and motivations of
respondents. However, tables 18 and 18.1., which show relationships
between change in ideologies of respondents and the change in comfort
felt when interacting with Blacks and Whites in general on an individual
level for the periods Pre-to-Prin and Prin-to-Post, indicate an
unexpected finding. In Table 18, it is clear that a strong relationship
exists which demonstrates that as more respondents became sep/plur, more
respondents became comfortable with Blacks in general; and as more
respondents became int/assim, more respondents became comfortable with
Whites in general. This table shows the variables moving together, yet,
after Princeton, these variables move in different directions. Table
18.1 shows that the previous relationship
disappears.
In order to explain this disappearance it
would be helpful to find some third variable having the same
relationship to ideologies and to general comfort during the Pre-to-Prin
period but would have different relationships to these variables in the
Prin-to-Post period. Unfortunately, I have been unable to find such a
variable in this study. Ideologies and “general comfort” were
crosstabulated with every
variable in this study and no such relationship occurred to
explain the disappearance. Thus, in this instance, I will
not venture to speculate beyond the limits of my data.Despite this
peculiar occurance, ideologies and other dependent variables show
relatively strong relationships with few inconsistencies. For example,
tables 19 and 19.1 demonstrate that the more respondents became
sep/plur, during the
Pre-to-Prin period, the more respondents became motivated to benefit the
Black community; and the more int/assim they became, the more
unmotivated they became to benefit the Black community.
One
possible explanation for this occurance may be that both integrationist
and separationist strive to benefit the Black community because
supporters of these ideologies may believe that their ideologies best
serve to benefit the Black community. However, it is possible that while
a Black separationist may be solely concerned with the particular
community he/she chooses to work within, a Black integrationist may be
equally concerned with the Black and White communities, thus must divide
his/her motivations between these communities. In essense, a Black
integrationist who is dividing motivations between two groups is less
concerned with benefiting the Black community specifically than a Black
separationist who is placing his/her energies into the Black community
only. Such reasoning could account for the findingswhich show separationists becoming more motivated to benefit the Black community in comparison to integrationists.
With
respect to their attitudes towards the Black lower class, during both
the Pre-to-Prin and the Prin-to-Post periods, the more respondents
became sep/plur, the more respondents became obligated to help improve
the lives of the Black lower class (see tables 20 and 20.1). However,
the relationship between the change in ideologies during the
Prin-to-Post period and the change in feeling of obligation to the Black
lower class in table 20.1 is much weaker than the relationship during
the Pre-to-Prin period.
Relationships in the previous
tables could be the result of the respondents’ increased occupational
motivation during the Prin-to-Post period as discussed earlier. This
table shows that the percentage of respondents who became motivated by
their occupation increased from 28% during the Pre-to-Prin period to 50%
from the Prin-to-Post period, while table 4.3a shows that more
respondents lost their motivation to benefit the Black community during
the Prin-to-Post period. These findings make it possible to speculate
that at the Post-Princeton point, as more respondents were becoming
increasingly motivated by their occupations, they had less attention to
divide among their other priorities. As a result, some of their
motivations to the Black community may have become withdrawn in order to
place more emphasis on occupational attainments. Consequently, their
feelings of obligation to the Black lower class were decreased as well.
Tables
21 and 21.1 demonstrate that a different relationship exists for both
periods when change in ideologies was crosstabulated with the feeling of
pride the respondents have in avoiding remaining in or falling into the
life of the Black lower class. It was found that the more respondents
became int/assim, the more proud they were of this fact; and the more
sep/plur they became, the less proud they were. But, it should be noted
that the relationship during the Pre-to-Prin period, in this case, is a
little weaker than the Prin-to-Post period relationship.
With
some speculation, these findings may be attributed to the idea that in
order for an individual to be int/assim, that individual may hold the
belief that Blacks, as a whole, should strive to become integrated into,
as opposed to segregated away from the White community, while a Black
who is sep/plur may believe in striving for the opposite goal.
Therefore, an int/assim may not be achieving his/her goals by falling
into a life with other Blacks, and thus, be more proud of avoiding their
life. A sep/plur, however, may feel that falling into a life led by
other Blacks is a step towards achieving his/her goal and, thus, be less
proud of avoiding the life of the Black lower class.
When
the relationship between change in ideologies and guilt of betraying
the Black lower class is analyzed in tables 22 and 22.1, it is evident
that respondents who became sep/plur, felt more guilt of betrayal and
those who became more int/assim, felt less guilt.
In
this instance it is possible that respondents who became sep/plur face
some conflict that may produce feelings of guilt for betraying the Black
community. This conflict may result from actively integrating in a
predominately White environment by attending Princeton. If separtist
ideologies are based on total separation from the White community, a
certain level of guilt is’ more likely to be felt by a respondent who
became sep/plur than by those who became int/assim. An integrationist is
not opposing any of his/her ideologies by attending Princeton. On the
other hand, the
respondent is acting in the best interest of integrationist ideologies
and, thus, is faced with no conflict to cause feelings of guilt.
Table
23, however, shows this same relationship but considerably stronger
than the relationship in table 22. For the Pre-to-Prin period, when
respondents were asked if they
felt that the Black lower class must help themselves, a very weak
relationship showing that the more sep/plur the respondents became, the
more the respondents felt that the Black lower class must help
themselves appeared; and the more int/
assim they became, the more they felt that the Black lower class must
not help themselves. This same relationship was
present for the Prin-to-Post period in Table 23.1, but it has become
stronger.
Integrationist and separationist ideologies
both encourage the active participation of the Black community in
working towards self-help. Integrationism and separtionism may
both be ways for the Black lower class to help themselves. Thus, it is
not surprising that the idea of self-help by the lower class continued
to increase through the life periods of the respondents.
Finally,
tables 24 and 24.1 demonstate a strong relationship for the change in
ideologies during the Pre-to-Prin period and the feeling that the
situation of the Black lower class is hopeless, such that the more
respondents became sep/plur, the more respondents felt hopeless; and the
more respondents became int/assim, the less hopeless they felt.
However,
once again, this relationship was very weak for the same relationship
in the Prin-to-Post Table 24.1. My speculation for this finding is
based on the possibility that a separationist is more likely to have a
realistic impression of the plight of the Black lower class because of
the likelihood that a separationist is more closely associated with the
Black lower class than are integrationist. By actually working with the
Black lower class or within their
communities as a result of their ideologies, a separationist may better
understand the desparation of their situation and feel more hopeless
about a resolution as opposed to an integrationist who is ignorant to
their plight.
Chapter V
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
The
original hypotheses of the study as demonstrated earlier by the causal
models in diagram 1, stated that time would have a positive relationship
to the dependent variables such that the more respondents began
spending time with Blacks, the more they would become attached to Black
individuals and the Black community in several respects; and the more
respondents began spending time with Whites, the more they would be
attached to Whites in several respects. The findings as demonstrated by
the revised causal models below in diagrams 2 and 3, were not far off
from these original hypotheses.
The
causal model in diagram 2 demonstrates that there is still a positive
relationship between time and the dependent variables. Ideologies,
however, was found to have the relationship to the dependent
variables. Unfortunately, the data do not provide a way of determining
whether time or ideologies is more closely related to the dependent
variables for reasons discussed earlier. However, I have chosen to
examine the time respondents spent with Blacks and Whites as it
determines later ideologies and attitudes because I am
more interested in this relationship as opposed to examining how
ideologies determines time.
The
causal model in diagram 3 demonstrates that the study
examines the respondents who spent time interacting with Blacks and
Whites on an individual level as the major causal
variable of the study. As discussed earlier, the time spent has a
positive relationship to all the dependent variables of the study which
show that the more respondents began spending time with Blacks, the more
respondents became sep/plur and.the more respondents became attached
and interested in the Black community. However, the more respondents
began
spending time with Whites, the more they became attached to and
interested in the White community.
The causal model
goes on to argue that the relationships between ideologies and the
variables which measure attitdues, i.e., towards the Black lower class,
comfort felt on an individual level with Blacks and Whites , and the
desire to benefit the Black community is as follows: the more respondent
became sep/plur, the more respondents became comfortable with Blacks,
the more respondents became motivated to benefit the Black community,
and held more positive attitudes towards the Black lower class in
general. The more respondents became int/assim, the more they became
comfortable with Whites, the less motivated they became to benefit the
Black community, and the less positive their attitudes became towards
the Black lower class in general.
MAJOR CONCLUSION
The
major conclusion to be drawn from the findings of the study is as
follows: despite the respondents’ sense of comfort with Blacks and
Whites, their motivation to benefit the Black community, or their
attitudes towards the Black lower class before Princeton, more
respondents tended to identify with Blacks during Princeton in every
measured respect. However, after Princeton this identification
decreased drastically. Before discussing this finding in more detail, I
feel it is necessary to clarify this idea of identification as it is
used in this study.
When I first set out to examine the
attitudes of the respondents towards Blacks and Whites, I believed that
the extent to which a respondent identified with the Black community
would determine that individual’s attitudes. In defining the concept of
identification or the ability to identify with the Black community, identify with the Black
community, I based my definition on the premise that there is a
distinctive Black culture very different from White culture. Elements of
Black culture which make it unique from White culture such as its
music, its language, the struggles and a “consciousness” shared by its
people may be attributed to the injustices and oppressions suffered by
this race of people which are not comparable to the experiences of any
other race of people through this country’s history. However, with the
increasing integration of Blacks into the mainstream society, many
“integrated Blacks” have lost touch with the Black culture in their
attempts to become adjusted and comfortable in their new culture–the
White culture. Some of these Blacks are no longer able to enjoy the
qualities which make Black culture so unique or are unable to openly
share their culture with other Blacks because they have become so far
removed from these experiences and, in some instances, ashamed of them
as a result of their integration.
There are other
Blacks who, in being integrated have not lost touch. They have
maintained an awareness and a sincere appreciation for the uniqueness of
the Black culture. Unlike those who have lost touch, these Blacks have
not become ashamed of Black culture. It is with these ideas that I
formulated my conception of identifying with the Black community. Thus, I
believe that a respondent who did not identify with the Black community
would be less likely to spend time with Blacks and be less motivated to
benefit the Black community. However I encountered several problems
following this line of reasoning.
I now believe it is
incorrect to assume that just because a Black individual does not enjoy
or choose to participate in the culture of his people, that that
individual is not interested in benefiting that group of people. For
example, a Black may not enjoy the music, or language of the Black
community because his preferences lead him to other interests, but this
same individual may actively work to improve employment for Blacks
because of a sincere interest in ameliorating this condition. Therefore,
the inability to identify with one aspect of the Black culture does not
necessarily cause apathy towards Blacks in general. Also, a Black
individual may be unable to understand or appreciate the Black culture
because that individual was not raised in that culture, yet still be
able to;identify as being a Black person. For example, a Black person
may have all White friends and prefer these friends and their activities
to those with Blacks without the individual believing that he/she is
White. It is possible that the individual identifies with being a Black
person and chooses to benefit the Black community because he/she is a
Black person, but does not necessarily identify with the culture.
Thus,
defining identification as an appreciation and an enjoyment found in
the Black culture is not complete enough for the purposes of the study.
However, through my study I was able to redefine the concept of
identification. Earlier in the discussion of “comfort” in the
Hypothesis Chapter, the concept of familiarity was introduced. Until
this point familiarity only served to explain the role of comfort in
this study. However, after completion of my
study, it is clear to me that familiarity or the extent to which
respondents are familiar with the Black community is helpful in
redefining the concept of identification. It is my belief that a
respondent’s sense of familiarity with the Black community or with the
White community will result in the respondent’s inclination to become
attached to Blacks or Whites on an individual and on a community level.
By
measuring relative comfort respondents feel interacting with Blacks and
with Whites as well as the time spent
actually interacting with Blacks and Whites, the respondents
ideologies, motivations, and ‘ attitudes towards the Black lower class,
the study is providing an idea of the respondents’ familiarity with
Blacks and Whites, which will influence the extent to which respondents
are attached to Blacks or Whites, thereby indicating the extent to which
the individual identifies with Blacks or Whites. For example, a
respondent who spends increasingly more time with Blacks in comparison
to Whites or feels comfort with Blacks in comparison to Whites or holds
ideologies that are sep/plur rather than int/assim, or is more motivated
to benefit the Black community as opposed to being unmotivated, or is
more obligated to the Black lower class, is more likely to be familiar
with Blacks as opposed to Whites, be more inclined to become attached to
Blacks as opposed to Whites and, thus,
identify more with Blacks as opposed to Whites.
NEW HYPOTHESIS
Many
questions arise from these findings. For instance, why did some
respondents tend to become more attached and interested in the Black
community during Princeton? What influence did their Princeton
environment have on their attitudes and why were these influences not
present before and after Princeton? The findings provided by this study leave these questions unanswered because the questionnaire was not designed to investigate these surprising occurances. However, it is
possible to develop new hypotheses which might explain these findings
and suggest methods for testing them. One possible hypothesis
explaining why some respondents become attached to Blacks during
Princeton was derived from some ideas Dejoie brought out in her report
discussed earlier in the Hypothesis Chapter. Predominately White
universities like Princeton are socially and academically designed to
cater to the needs of the White students comprising the bulk of their
enrollments. At Princeton, for example, presently their are only five
Black tenured professsors on its faculty; and the program of
Afro-American studies is one of the smallest and most understaffed
departments in the University only offering four courses during the
spring semester of 1985; and there is only one major University
recognized organization on campus designed specifically for the
intellectual and social interests of Blacks and other Third World
students.
Activities organized by University groups
such as Student Government rarely, if ever, take into account the
diverse interests which exist at a University that is not 100% White. If
Black students want to have certain speakers or programs, catering to
their interests, they must form separate groups within the University,
i.e., the Organization of Black Unity, the Princeton University Black
Thoughts Table, the Society of Black Engineers. Several Black students
within the past four years, have even organized a Food Cooperative which
provides these students with an inexpensive alternative to University
eating facilities and Eating Clubs which are very expensive by
comparison. Thus, it is not surprising that, in their attempts to
satisfy their own intellectual, social, and also economic needs, some
respondents became attached to Blacks during the Pre-to-Prin period.
In
order to study this hypothesis which, in essence, is saying that the
more respondents became attached to Blacks during the Pre-to-Prin
period, the more respondents became
dissatisfied with the social and academic environment at Princeton, one
might measure the degree of satisfaction respondents felt in their
experiences at Princeton. By creating a scale from being “very
satisfied” to being “not satisfied at all”, respondents could be asked
to rate numerous Princeton experiences, i.e., social life, academic
diversity, eating options, and in general on this scale. From such a
question, one could discover how satisfied Blacks were at Princeton and
what satisfied them most and least. Another possible hypothesis created
from this study’s findings explaining why respondents became attached
to Blacks at Princeton is that the mood of Black students at Princeton
during the time that most of the respondents were attending Princeton
was more separationist. As discussed earlier, most respondents were
attending Princeton during the 70′s, at a time when the Black Power
Movement was still influencing the attitudes of many Blacks. It is
possible that Black individuals either chose to or felt pressured to
come together with other Blacks on campus because of the belief that
Blacks must join in solidarity to combat a White oppressor. As the few
Blacks in a White environment it is understandable that respondents
might have felt a need to look out for one another.
One
can contrast the mood of the campus years ago and the level of
attachment to Blacks to that of the present mood of the campus, which is
more pro-integrationist, and the level of attachment to Blacks.
Presently, with the Black Power Movement behind us and with the
implementation of CURL (College Undergraduate Residential Life), the
mood of the campus has been shifted in such a way that Black students
are discouraged from forming separate groups because of a fear that they
are segregating themselves from mainstream campus life by doing so.
Thus, if a survey were to be made today of the level of Black
involvement in minority organizations and their involvement in campus
organizations, there would be a larger percentage of Blacks involved in
mainstream life in comparison to the years when these respondents were
at Princeton. But, on the other hand, the percentage of involvement in
Third World organizations would be much lower now than then. It appears,
that the present mood of the campus is one that encourages the
integration and assimilation of Blacks, whereas the mood of the campus
and even society in general several years ago encouraged the separation
of Blacks. Thus, the mood of the time may have contributed its influence
to more respondents becoming attached to Blacks.
So
far, I have discussed a few characteristics of Princeton and the time at
which respondents were attending the University which may account for
some of the main findings of this study. However, it is still necessary
to discuss why the respondents’ Princeton experiences were different
from their Pre and Post-Princeton experiences. It is important to
remember that before Princeton, a large percentage of the respondents
were attending secondary schools whose population was more heavily White
in comparison to their primary schools.
After
Princeton, one may speculate that respondents were
also in predominately White work environments or attending graduate or
professional schools that were also predominately White. Thus, a
discussion of the differences between these experiences in predominately
White environments and Princeton experiences that prevented Pre and
Post environments from changing their attitudes will be interesting.
What I believe distinguishes Pre-Princeton from Princeton experiences
accounting for the respondents’ tendencies to identify more with Blacks
during Princeton, is the presence of a support group, i.e., family or
home, during Pre-Princeton that was absent during Princeton. During
Pre-Princeton if respondents became frustrated or discouraged as a
result of their experiences in a predominately White academic
environment the respondents could always escape from these frustrations
when they left these environments to go home.
Thus,
respondents’ families and homelives provide relief from any problems or
tensions encountered in predominately White environments. However, when
respondents enter college, many, if not most, are unable to go home for
support from families readily when they are frustrated or discouraged by
their Princeton environment usually because their familiies are far
from them and telephoning home may be restricted because of the expense.
Thus, in their attempts to find a substitute support group, respondents
turn to individuals in their environments who most resemble their old
support groups; individuals who share the same problems as themselves
and understand their complaints. Consequently, many respondents find
themselves spending more time with other Blacks while at Princeton
because it is likely that other Blacks are more sensitive to
respondents’ problems, and it is also likely that respondents are
identifying more with Blacks.
What distinguishes
Post-Princeton from Princeton experiences, accounting for the
respondents’ tendencies to identify more with Blacks during Princeton
are the respondents' increased motivations to benefit their occupations. Assuming that most of these respondents are working or
attending schools during Post-Princeton that are predominately White,
most of their time during Post-Princeton will be spent interacting with
their White co-workers or classmates. Thus, the increasing amount of
time spent with Whites resulting from the respondents’ occupational
pursuits can account for the increased attachment to Whites during
Post-Princeton. In essence, in order to advance in their careers or
post-graduate studies, respondents realize they must be able to get
along with their co-workers or classmates who are likely to be White,
thereby identifying more with Whites. I began this study questionning
my own attitudes as a future alumnus. I wondered whether or not my
education at Princeton would affect my identification with the Black
community. I hoped that these findings would help me conclude that
despite the high degree of identification with Whites as a result of the
educational and occupational path that Black Princeton alumni follow,
the alumni would still maintain a certain level of identification with
the Black community. However, these findings do not support this possibility.
Findings
show that some respondents did experience a change in their attitudes
over the periods of time indicated in this study. By studying
respondents who did change, it was shown that respondents’ experiences
while attending Princeton caused their identification with Blacks and
the Black community to increase as their’ identification with Whites and
the White community decreased. However, after Princeton, respondents’
experienced the opposite change in attitude; their identification with
Blacks and the Black community decreased as their identification with
Whites and the White community increased. Thus, these findings suggest
that respondents who experience change as a result of their Princeton
experiences are likely to identify less with Blacks and the Black
community in comparison to Whites and the Whites community.
It
is important to note that it is impossible for me to generalize these
findings for all Black Princeton alumni because the sample for this
study was much too small to make any kind of generalizations. Therefore,
I am only able to draw conclusions from these findings for the
respondents to my questionnaire.
What is left to be
done now is a further examination of this issue to determine if a
Princeton education has unique effects on Blacks or if the effects are
common for all college-educated Blacks in general. It is my belief that
such a study should be undertaken by developing a new questionnaire to
be distributed to Black alumni of several different types of
universities. Such a study could prove to be invaluable to bettering the
educational environments for Blacks who are able to attend college,
thereby improving the overall quality of a college education for Blacks.
