Forming a More Perfect Union: Racial Perceptions of Unity and Division in the United States

Abstract This research analyzes 105 interviews from the Lilly Survey of Attitudes and Friendship to assess attitudes on bridging U.S. cultural difference. Interviewees across social categories were most likely to identify freedom as the principle that unites Americans and racial issues as that which divides. The data reveal racial variation, however. White participants often talked about unity and division in terms that did not implicate societal transformation, while many black interviewees were reluctant to endorse traditional values they think perpetuate racial inequality. In addition, whites were more likely to suggest that race is problematic because of the public's obsession with it, whereas nonwhites often commented on ongoing problems created by racism. Apparently, “traditional” core values, as easily appropriated symbols, help people define national identity, providing attributes they think tie people together. Racial groups talk past one another, however, as they refer to different value orienta...