THE DIRECTION OF RACE OF INTERVIEWER EFFECTS AMONG AFRICAN-AMERICANS - DONNING THE BLACK MASK

Theory: The discussion that takes place between African-American respo ndents and interviewers of different races is symbolic of the normal e veryday sensitivity to race and strangers of different races. Race of interviewer effects can usefully serve as an indicator of evolving are as of interpersonal tension between African-Americans and whites, and deserve to be treated as a fact of social life and not merely as an ar tifact of the survey interview. Underlying the potential response bias and estimation problems created by the race of interviewer effects re sts a set of coherent beliefs about race and perceived constraints on the freedom of expression. Hypothesis: Given the persistence of negati ve reactions to African-Americans among whites, African-Americans can be expected to be more sensitive to white interviewers. Characteristic of the traditional role-playing behavior meant to appease and accommo date whites, African-Americans out of a sense of fear or intimidation are expected to conceal their true political beliefs and place self-im posed limits on their freedom of expression in response to the white i nterviewer. Methods: Ordinary Least Squares analysis is performed on s urvey data from the 1984 National Black Election Study. Results: As a sign of deference to the interviewer, African-Americans in response to white interviewers are more likely to acquiesce to mutually contradic tory evaluations of both the Democratic and Republican parties, to bot h Ronald Reagan and Jesse Jackson, and to black officials supportive o f both Ronald Reagan and Jesse Jackson. More importantly, alterations in the interviewers' race from the preelection to postelection panel w aves reveal that when the change is from an African-American to a diff erent white interviewer, or the same white interviewer, African-Americ ans are more likely to admit that blacks do not have the power to chan ge things, that blacks cannot make a difference in presidential and lo cal elections, that blacks should not form their own political party, and that whites do not keep blacks down.