The continuing significance of race revisited: A study of race, class, andquality of life in America, 1972 to 1996

More than a decade ago, we (Thomas and Hughes 1986) demonstrated that the s ubjective well-being of African Americans in the United States was signific antly and consistently lower than that for whites over the 14-year period f rom 1972 to 1985. Since then, evidence has accumulated on several important dimensions of well-being that African Americans fare as well as or better than whites, suggesting a change in the pattern observed for nearly 40 year s. Using data from the General Social Survey (GSS) for the period 1972 to 1 996, we show that quality of life continues to be worse for African America ns than it is for whites, although anemia and mistrust have increased a lit tle more rapidly in recent years for whites than for blacks. Racial dispari ties in quality of life do not vary by and are not explained by socioeconom ic status. Although racial inequality appears to be the primary cause of th ese differences, the exact processes producing them are as yet unknown.