R
Racial discrimination
Definition Unequal treatment of persons because
of their race or ethnicity
Liberals and civil rights leaders perceived the 1980’s as a
period of regression in the government’s commitment to pro-
moting racial equality. Public opinion polls, nevertheless,
showed a small increase in the liberalization of attitudes by
respondents of all races.
Despite myriad acts of discrimination, public opin-
ion surveys during the 1980’s showed that racial atti-
tudes of white Americans continued a long-term
trend toward increased support for racial integra-
tion. Whereas only 50 percent of whites in 1950 had
responded that white and black children should at-
tend the same schools, 88 percent favored atten-
dance at the same schools in 1980, and this percent-
age increased to 94 percent in 1989. When asked
whether whites should have a right to keep African
Americans out of their neighborhoods, 56 percent
agreed in 1968, compared with 34 percent in 1980
and only 23 percent in 1989. In 1970, 50 percent of
whites favored laws prohibiting intermarriage, com-
pared with 32 percent in 1980 and only 23 percent
in 1989. Southern attitudes remained significantly
more conservative than those in the North.
By the 1980’s, it was not unusual for African
Americans to be elected to local office and to the
House of Representatives. Although most victories
occurred in predominantly black districts, Harold
Washington could not have been elected as the first
African American mayor of Chicago without large
numbers of white votes, and he served from 1983 un-
til his death in 1987. In 1989, David Dinkins became
the first African American to be elected mayor of
New York City. That same year, moreover, Douglas
Wilder became the first African American to be
elected governor (Virginia). The elections of these
three men demonstrated that large numbers of
whites were viewing issues as more important than
the candidate’s race. Although civil rights activist
Jesse Jackson was unsuccessful in his bids for the
presidency in 1984 and 1988, he made an impressive
showing. No doubt, many whites voted against Jack-
son because of his race, but opposition to his left-
wing views was probably more important to the out-
come.Racial Incidents and Controversies A number of
racial bias crimes occurred during the decade. In
Mobile, Alabama, in 1981, two members of the Ku
Klux Klan lynched nineteen-year-old Michael Don-
ald, who was chosen at random in order to protest
the acquittal of an African American defendant. The
murder provided the opportunity for Morris Dees
and the Southern Poverty Law Center to file a civil
suit against the United Klans of America on behalf
of Donald’s mother. The resulting wrongful-death
verdict of $7 million financially destroyed the orga-
nization, which had been the nation’s largest Klan
group.
In 1986, a twenty-three-year-old African Ameri-
can, Michael Griffith, was driving with two friends
in the white neighborhood of Howard Beach in
Queens, New York. After Griffith’s car broke down,
he and one friend were badly beaten by young white
teenagers with racist attitudes. As Griffith ran across
the street in an attempt to escape, he was struck and
killed by a passing automobile. Three white defen-
dants were convicted only of second-degree man-
slaughter. For many African Americans, the name of
Howard Beach became a symbol of white racism and
unequal justice.
Asian immigrants also reported instances of dis-
criminatory treatment. In Galveston, Texas, for in-
stance, several Vietnamese-owned shrimp boats were
burned between 1979 and 1981. After a fistfight be-
tween white and Vietnamese fishermen ended with
the fatal shooting of a white participant, a group of
angry white fishermen organized an anti-Vietnamese
rally in February, 1981. Armed, hooded members of
the Ku Klux Klan joined the protest and engaged in
numerous acts of harassment and intimidation. In