Latino immigrants bring negative attitudes toward blacks with them from their home countries

"DURHAM -- Latino immigrants bring negative attitudes toward blacks with them from their home countries rather than develop them after they arrive here, a team including four Duke and two UNC researchers say.

The study, which will appear in the August issue of the Journal of Politics analyzed survey data drawn from Durham residents in 2003.

Latinos also more often identified with whites than blacks, although whites were less likely to see themselves as having much in common with Latinos.

The survey asked 500 residents nearly equally divided among the three groups. The researchers chose Durham because of its nearly 500 percent increase in Latino population between 1990 and 2000, and because its black population spans socioeconomic levels.

"What surprised us most was the high level of negative stereotypes on the part of Latino immigrants," said Paula McClain, a professor of political science at Duke University and the study's lead author. "We were also, I guess, pleasantly surprised at the low level of stereotypes of blacks held by whites in Durham. Less than 10 percent of our sample of whites held negative stereotypes of blacks. And that blacks were more tolerant of Latino immigrants than Latino immigrants were of blacks."
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