BLACK CONCERN FOR THE ENVIRONMENT - MYTH VERSUS REALITY

This article first discusses major misconceptions and limitations of r esearch conducted in the United States on race and concern for the env ironment. An overview of four hypotheses pertaining to concern for the environment among blacks is then provided. Support for each hypothesi s is judged by reviewing recent literature and by analyzing the Nation al Opinion Research Center's (NORC) General Social Survey (GSS) trend data 1973-93. The overall evidence shows that concern for the environm ent is not just an issue for whites and that a ''concern gap'' between whites and black probably does not exist. It also demonstrates that s upport among blacks for environmental protection did not decline more than it did for whites during hard economic periods. There is limited evidence to suggest that black place a slightly higher priority than d o whites on improving the conditions of the social environment than on the state of the environment in general.