ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the extent to which black and white children are socialized to divergent political orientations. The data demonstrate that the black child lags behind his white counterpart in his ability to identify the American political community and to relate the various levels of political community one to the other. While the young black child expresses great affection for the national political community, the affective attachment becomes seriously undermined with maturation. The black child experiences an erosion of his early positive diffuse support for most of the elements of the political system. To the young child, community, government, and authorities overlap and are no doubt confused one with the other. Life for the black man in America produces fewer rewards relative to whites; there are few inducements for the development of a deep attachment to the system. Black unawareness and apathy are dying. Information provided revealed differences in the political outlooks of black and white citizens.
