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Discriminatory behavior in New York restaurants: 1950 and 1981

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Abstract

Survey techniques are combined with behavioral observations in this attempt to replicate a 1950 baseline study in order to examine trends in racial discrimination. In the 1950 study, treatment of black and white couples was compared in a sample of 62 restaurants drawn from a population of all restaurants in a large area of East Side Manhattan. In 1981 we carried out similar comparisons in a sample of 20 restaurants (plus four replications) drawn from the same area, following as closely as possible the procedures used in the baseline study. A substantial amount of discrimination was found in 1981, though somewhat less than in 1950. The difficult problems of determining when discrimination has and has not occurred are discussed from the standpoints of both black customers and social science investigators.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA

    Howard Schuman, Eleanor Singer, Rebecca Donovan & Claire Selltiz

  2. Columbia University, Manhattan, USA

    Howard Schuman, Eleanor Singer, Rebecca Donovan & Claire Selltiz

  3. City College of New York, New York, USA

    Howard Schuman, Eleanor Singer, Rebecca Donovan & Claire Selltiz

Authors
  1. Howard Schuman
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  2. Eleanor Singer
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  3. Rebecca Donovan
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  4. Claire Selltiz
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Additional information

We are indebted to many people for help in carrying out this study: to the fortynine volunteers, black and white, who did the actual testing of restaurants; to Lawrence Bobo, who helped analyze the data; to Hilton B. Clark, who generously made available the facilities of Clark, Phipps, Clark and Harris, Inc. on the many nights when teams went out to test and then returned for debriefing by the study staff; and to both Charlotte Steeh and Lawrence Bobo who provided advice at various points. Tom W. Smith offered helpful suggestions on an earlier draft of this article. The research was supported in part by a grant (MH34116) from the National Institute of Mental Health.

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Schuman, H., Singer, E., Donovan, R. et al. Discriminatory behavior in New York restaurants: 1950 and 1981. Soc Indic Res 13, 69–83 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02193666

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02193666

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