Social distances of white Americans to racial and ethnic minorities

This thesis examines social distances of white Americans to racial and ethnic minority groups by investigating how whites feel toward African Americans, Asian Americans, and Hispanic Americans. Three questions guide the study: (1) What is the relative order of whites' social distances to major racial and ethnic minority groups? (2) What characteristics of whites tend to be associated with a greater or lesser social distance of whites to major racial and ethnic minority groups? (3) What are generational differences in whites' social distances to major racial and ethnic minority groups?

The 2002 General Social Survey and ordinary least squares regression are used to test the hypotheses. Results indicate that whites maintain the least social distance to Hispanics, followed by Blacks and Asians. In addition, whites with a higher socioeconomic status, white women, younger whites, and whites living in the West tend to maintain less social distance to three minority groups. Results show a general trend of decrease in whites' social distances over time.