The Disproportionate Overrepresentation of Minority Youth in ...

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I don’t know, with all the gangs and stuff. It depends on what happens.
Five years from now it could be the other way around. It could be all
blacks in Congress and none of us (whites) are. It could be equal. Blacks
and whites and Mexicans.
It all depends on what they do. I think it might get worse, the violence for
gangs and then people might start discriminating more and so their
opportunities will get worse.
The following response to the question is frightening. Fortunately there was only
one white youth who felt that things will never change one way or another. The response
to the racial situation in five years was:
It’ll be about the same. Because there will always be people that don’t like
blacks because they are black. You can’t change that.
White youth seem eager to place the blame on the blacks for any racial problems
that may exist. There is a recurring theme that there is always blacks with an “attitude” or
behave “different.” Even though the majority of the white youth do not see themselves as
racist, subtle biases are evident. For example, “Because America is. . .they came here and
nobody liked them” or “...they’re not different, they just make people think of them
different because of the way they act. If they didn’t do it then people wouldn’t say
anything about it.”
The question, “In the next five years, do you think that the opportunities for
Native Americans to get ahead will improve or get worse” was asked of the Native
American youth interviewed. Of those that responded, opportunities were believed to
“improve” or “stay the same.”
Of the Hispanic youth that were asked the question, “In the next 5 years, do you
think the opportunities for blacks to get ahead will improve or get worse” The response
was split between “getting better” and “getting worse.”