BLACKS AND WHITES PERCEPTIONS OF INTERRACIAL AND INTRARACIAL DATE RAPE

The prevalence of rape myths contributes to victims' reluctance to rep ort rapes. Black (n = 30) and White (n = 96) U.S. college students res ponded to the Rape Myth Scale (Burt, 1980) and read a scenario of an a cquaintance rape; the race of the perpetrator and victim (Black or Whi te) were varied. The respondents assessed the victim's and perpetrator 's responsibility and evaluated the incident. As hypothesized, the res pondents with strong beliefs in rape myths were more tolerant of the r apist and less tolerant of the victim than were those with weaker beli efs. There was limited support for the myth of the Black rapist and Wh ite victim; however, the myth of the Black rapist appeared particularl y strong among the Black respondents. The women responded more negativ ely to the rapist and more positively to the victim than the men did. Such biases in attitudes toward rape could keep women from reporting r apes and accused rapists from receiving fair trials.