White racial beliefs improved dramatically even as policy opposition stayed high

Evidence

The attitudes of white Americans toward black people have undergone sweeping and dramatic change over the past several decades. In 1942, approximately 60% of whites believed that blacks were less intelligent than whites (Hyman & Sheatsley, 1956, p. 35). By 1964, that figure had declined to less than 25% (Hyman & Sheatsley, 1964; see also Schuman, 1971, p. 383). A substantial majority of white Americans in 1942 approved of the blatantly discriminatory proposition that “white people should have the first chance at any kind of job,” whereas in 1972 nearly 100% of whites in a national survey rejected that statement. But just as survey research has chronicled such changes for the better, opposition to policies such as school busing (80%–90%; see Schuman, Steeh, & Bobo, 1985) and affirmative action (roughly 80%; see Lipset & Schneider, 1978) remain impediments to certain forms of racial change. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 3331

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader literature on symbolic vs. principled racism (Sears, Kinder) and to today’s debates about whether racial progress is real or cosmetic. — connects to: White racial-egalitarian attitudes changed faster than modern gay-marriage support — Ilyana Kuziemko and Ebonya Washington, Why Did the Democrats Lose the South?…, 317
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 3331