The Buzz: The Racial Divide: Whites and Blacks Not in Each Other’s Social Networks

The Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) included a number of questions on its 2013 American Values Survey designed to gauge the range and diversity of Americans’ social networks. The survey results released last week found that:

• Seventy-five percent of White Americans reported that the circle of people with whom they “discuss important matters” is entirely White and only 15 percent said they have a racially mixed social network. Political affiliation made no difference in the results. Eighty-one percent of White Republicans and 78 percent of White Democrats have social networks that are entirely composed of whites. Among white independents, 73 percent say their social networks are comprised entirely of people who are White.

• Almost two-thirds (65 percent) of Black Americans report having a social network comprised only of black people. However somewhat more than Whites, 23 percent answered that their network includes a mix of people from other racial and ethnic backgrounds.

• In contrast, only 46 percent of Hispanics report that their social networks are limited only to other Hispanics and 34 percent report having a mixed social network.

• There were no gender differences and only slight differences by age. Whites ages 65 and older were only slightly more likely than White young adults (ages 18-29) to have entirely white social networks (80 percent vs. 72 percent).

If we don’t have meaningful dialogue across racial and ethnic lines we cannot make progress towards inclusive solutions to the myriad social, economic, political issues that divide us. Inclusion can only happen if we include those who are different in our social networks, listen to each other and learn to understand, value and appreciate our differences. The results of this survey are very disheartening.

Who’s in your world? Let us all commit to expanding our social networks!