Black youth believe that discrimination is holding them back, the government cares little about them and that even immigrants receive better governmental treatment than Blacks, concludes a study released Thursday.
The study, titled the “Black Youth Project,” was initiated to document and disclose the complex and wide-ranging ideas, attitudes and perspectives of the nation’s Black youth, particularly in terms of pressing social and political issues and their sexual behaviors. The study also challenges many negative stereotypes attributed to Black youth.
“There has been a lot of talk about African-American youth from people like Bill Cosby,” says Dr. Cathy Cohen, the project’s leader and a professor of political science at the University of Chicago. “Unfortunately, most of these comments are not grounded in any type of empirical reality.
“Similarly, there have been a number of other studies of African-American young people, largely focused on the outcomes of their behaviors that do not include the voices and views of young Black people,” she continues.
The research team conducted a nationwide survey of 1,590 Black, White and Hispanic youth, between the ages of 15 and 25. They also conducted in-depth interviews with 40 of the Black youth who participated in the survey.
In terms of political issues, 56 percent of Black youth say that government officials care little about them. Only 44 percent of White youth shared that view. Nearly half of the Black youth surveyed believe the government treats immigrants better than Blacks, whereas a mere 29 percent of White young adults and 18 percent of Hispanic youth agreed that immigrants are treated better than Blacks.
Even though they feel alienated from politicians, Black youth still involve themselves in politics as much as their peers, the study found. Nearly the same number of youth in each group reported that they had “buycotted, or purchased a product from a company whose social or political values they liked, in the past 12 months.
