American colleges struggle with racial tensions every year. Some white students — in incidents that attract widespread attention or in everyday interactions with their minority peers — convey a lack of understanding about race.
A new book, White Kids: Growing Up With Privilege in a Racially Divided America (New York University Press), explores how wealthy white children develop their ideas about race. The author, Margaret A. Hagerman, assistant professor of sociology at Mississippi State University, took a qualitative approach, following young white people as they grew up. She answered questions via email about the book and how her findings relate to current tensions at colleges….
