Ask a Loaded Question...

"How Perceptions About Opportunity Vary by Race," in the Atlantic, is supposed to be about how people of different racial backgrounds understand differences in opportunities. But, when you look at the questions and the answers that were given, it becomes clear that people either aren't really thinking the question through, or don't understand the implications.

For instance, in answer to the question: "Do you think young people in the United States today need a 4‐year college degree in order to be successful, or not?" 49% of White people asked said "Yes."

But when asked: "Do you think African-­‐Americans have better, worse, or equal access to employment opportunities compared to other Americans?" 69% of White people asked said Equal or Better.

In 2012, the percentage of 16- to 24-year-olds who had dropped out of school was about 6.6% on average, but 7.5% for Black kids. At the same time, the percentage of 18- to 24-year-olds enrolled in degree-granting institutions (two or four-year) was 41% on average, but only 36% for Blacks. Therefore, one would suspect that African-­‐Americans would have lower access to employment opportunities than other Americans, because they are more likely to drop out of school and less likely to attend college. Note that the question does not stipulate "all other things being equal."

But when we use "Do you think [Fill in the Blank] have better, worse, or equal access to employment opportunities compared to other Americans?" as a proxy for people's perceptions of whether or not race has tangible impacts on life outcomes (which let's face it, is usually what it winds up being), you wind up with a question about how people feel about the country, rather than how they actually understand opportunity to work.

Because if I were to ask "Do you think college graduates have better, worse, or equal access to employment opportunities compared to other Americans?" I'm willing to bet that a lot of people would say "yes." After all, 53% percent of people in the survey said that going to college gives young people the best chance of success. So it stands to reason that groups with higher rates of college attendance would, on average, have better access to employment opportunities. The fact that many people seem unable to get that means that they aren't actually engaging with the question. And since we don't bother to interpret the question as it is actually written, why bother to ask it in the first place?

Why not just openly ask people "Do you think [Fill in the Blank] have better, worse, or equal life outcomes, when compared to other Americans, because of the fact that they are [Fill in the Blank]?" It's not going to get us around the tiresome arguments about moral and ethical superiority, whining or good versus bad life choices, but it does have the advantage of straightforwardly asking the question that we're actually looking to have answered and that people understand themselves to be answering.