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Psychological Knowledge and the New American Dilemma of Race
Author(s) -
Jones James M.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
journal of social issues
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.618
H-Index - 122
eISSN - 1540-4560
pISSN - 0022-4537
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1998.tb01241.x
Subject(s) - salience (neuroscience) , race (biology) , dilemma , social psychology , racial formation theory , psychology , critical race theory , social identity theory , racism , diversity (politics) , sociology , social group , gender studies , epistemology , cognitive psychology , philosophy , anthropology
A discussion of the social issue race contrasts the American Dilemma of the 1940s, typified by moral uneasiness over the struggle of right versus wrong, with what is described as a “New American Dilemma,” characterized by moral conflict between right versus right—race‐neutral and race‐conscious social policies. Critical Race Theory (CRT) explanations for evidence of continuing and sometimes widening racial disparities in social and economic status are reviewed. Psychological Critical Race Theory (PCRT) is proposed as a way of accounting for the role of social psychological processes in continuing racial disparities. The components of PCRT—(1) Spontaneous and persistent influence of race; (2) Fairness is derived from divergent racial experiences; (3) Asymmetrical consequences of racial policies; (4) Paradoxes of racial diversity; (5) Salience of racial identity—are discussed. Implications for understanding the social issue of race are discussed.