Volume 33, Issue 1
Racial Preferences in Internet Dating:
A Comparison of Four Birth Cohorts
Glenn T. Tsunokai—Western Washington University
Augustine J. Kposowa—University of California, Riverside
Michele A. Adams—Tulane University
Does the willingness to date interracially cut across different cohorts? Using data from a sample of Internet daters, the present study examines the race dating preferences of four distinct birth cohorts, the Silent Generation (individuals born in 1942 or before), the Baby Boomers (those born between 1943 and 1960), Generation X (those born between 1961 and 1981), and the Millennium Generation (those born after 1981). Although members from each group have had varying experiences with legalized segregation— especially during the formative years of their adulthood— no research to date has specifically compared these four birth cohorts in regards to their current dating preferences. The findings reveal that members of the oldest generation (Silent Generation) were consistently less willing to date anyone outside their racial group, except when whites were the response variable. Analysis also showed that whites and Asians are unwilling to date African Americans. At the same time, African Americans are resistant to dating whites, but Asians prefer dating whites. Overall results are discussed in relation to both the historical and present socio-cultural racial climate, and how the importance of cohort effects may shape racial dating preferences.
pp. 1-15
Relationship Between Condom Use Knowledge and Condom Use Among African-American Women in Harris County, Texas
Angela Branch-Vital—University of Texas Health Science Center
William Hale–Prairie View A&M University
Edward Mason–Prairie View A&M University
The objective of this study was to determine the association between condom use knowledge and self-reported condom use at last intercourse among African-American women (≥ 18 years of age) in Harris County, Texas. The Condom Use Assessment Questionnaire was administered to 297 African-American women in Harris County, Texas, from August-November 2007. T-test and chi-square statistics were conducted to assess the difference between condom users and non condom users. There was no significant difference between condom use knowledge and condom use (p=0.27). The results of this study would suggest that even though condom use knowledge and condom use have been shown not to be significant, other factors that may predict condom use needs to be explored.
pp. 16-22
Factors Influencing the Successful Retention of
Skilled Manpower in Developing Nations:
The Case of Ethiopia and People of Ethiopian Origin in North America
Adamasu Tucho—Dembi Dollo, Ethiopia
“Brain drain” or “Human capital flight” has immeasurable impact on the social, political, and economic progress of developing nations. Studies show that a large number of skilled professionals and scholars leave developing nations each year either to escape from political persecution at home or to seek higher salaries in wealthy nations. The purpose of this study was to identify factors influencing the successful retention of a skilled workforce in developing nations in general and that of Ethiopia in particular. Two groups of academic communities whose constituents possess at least a bachelor’s degree in any field of study took part in this study. Group I participants were faculty and academic officials employed in two of the state universities in Ethiopia. Group II was comprised of persons of Ethiopian origin residing in the United States. A convenience sampling technique was adopted to select participants and Likert type survey forms were used to collect data for study. Findings of the study confirmed that social, political, and economic advancement of any nation can not be achieved without active participation of educated and skilled citizens in the nation-building. The study also highlighted a series of concerns that require immediate attention at the national level that would help Ethiopia retain its college-educated manpower as a developing nation.
pp. 23-28
Female Initial Psychological Adjustment
to Prison As Related to Ethnicity and Other Relevant Characteristics
William Clay III—Texas Southern University
The purpose of this research was to examine female prisoner’s initial adjustment to a state prison setting. Initial and follow-up measures of prisoner psychological adjustment were obtained and compared for three ethnic groups as assessed by the Beck Depression Inventory, Prison Adjustment Questionnaire, Spielberger State Anxiety Scale, and the Spielberger Trait Anxiety Scale.
The study sample consisted of a total of 90 adult female prisoners who were incarcerated in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice – Institutional Division for the first time. There were 30 participant volunteers for Black, Hispanic, and White ethnic groups in the study. The sample represented women ranging in age from.
Examination of ethnicity and adjustment using Analysis of Variance resulted in no statistical difference among the three groups. However, while the mean adjustment scores on these measures were within the range of normal, a substantial number of women in each group could be considered to be depressed, anxious, and not well adjusted to prison.
Two-way Analysis of Variance with regards to other related variables such as age, crime type, marital status, substance abuse to other related variables such as age, crime type, marital status, substance abuse, education, and pre-occupational status yielding no statistical interaction effects between these variables and ethnic groups status. Low reliability coefficients obtained could account for the limited amount of differences found between groups.
pp. 29-45
The Black Studies Tradition and the Mappings of
Our Common Intellectual Project
Jonathan Fenderson—University of Massachusetts
The discipline commonly referred to as “Black Studies” carries various designations: Africana Studies, African-American Studies, African Diaspora Studies, etc. Moving the debate about names beyond the discourse of semantic preference, this article examines these various titles and argues that they are distinguishable by more than just nomenclature. The titles reflect three distinct geographical emphases that have come to characterize the Black Studies project: the national, regional and global. This article maps out these geographical emphases, and examines their implications for the discipline. It presents a critical interrogation of prominent texts used to define the national, regional and global distinctions, and demonstrates the contested nature of each by contrasting them with the works of other scholars. It also offers a way to think about the history of Black Studies that does not cater to the traditional political orientations that have historically splintered the Black Studies project.
pp. 46-58
Linguistic Variation in Judge Greg Mathis’ Courtroom
Milford A. Jeremiah—Morgan State University
Linguistic variation has become a central feature of linguistic analysis (Fasold and Shuy, 1977; Labov, 1972; Tagliamonte, 2006). Studies of linguistic variation attempt to establish certain variables (e.g., age, ethnicity, gender, social class) that influence how individuals use different components of language (e.g., discourse structure, lexical choices, phonology, syntax) within specific social settings. Building on this methodology and using segments of Judge Mathis show as data, this study examines specific lexical, phonological and grammatical features noted in the speech of Judge Greg Mathis as he adjudicates cases brought before him. The results suggest that Judge Mathis uses a range of linguistic features that are influenced primarily by the variables listed above. Moreover, linguistic variation occurs in a setting where we would normally expect formal modes of linguistic expressions.
pp. 59-68
Book Reviews
‘They Say:’ Ida B. Wells and the
Reconstruction of Race
Author: James West Davidson
Reviewer: Ashley Farmer, Harvard University
pp. 69-71
Black Male Outsider a Memoir:
Teaching as a Pro-Feminist Man
Author: Gary L. Lemons
Reviewer: Michael L. Rowland,
The Ohio State University
pp. 71-73
Shades of Difference: Mac Maharaj and the Struggle for South Africa
Author: Padraig O’Malleyr
Reviewer: Shirley A. Wilson, Bryant University
pp. 73-74
Football and Philosophy: Going Deep
Editor, Michael W. Austin
Reviewer: Susan Cooper-Twamley, University of Wisconsin–Green Bay
pp. 74-75
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