Witnesses to History: Children's Views of Race and the 2008 United States Presidential Election

Abstract

The 2008 presidential election presented a unique opportunity to examine children's attention to racial issues in politics. We conducted interviews with 60 girls; 29 African Americans, 58 European Americans, 43 Latinos) within 3 weeks prior to and after the election. Interview questions concerned knowledge, preferences, and perceptions of others' attitudes concerning the election, views of the implications of the election for race relations, and personal aspirations to become president. Results indicated that children were highly knowledgeable about Obama's status as the first African American president. Most children felt positively about the presence of an African American candidate for president, although a few children showed clear racial prejudice. Overall, children expected others to show racial ingroup preferences but simultaneously endorsed the optimistic view that Obama's race was a slight asset in his bid for the presidency. Older children were somewhat more likely to view Obama's race as negatively impacting his chances of being elected than younger children. African American and Latino children were more interested in becoming president than European American children; aspiration rates did not change from pre-to post-election.Barack Obama's election to the presidency of the United States in 2008 was an event of major historic importance. Many social commentators suggested that

Toward a Developmental Science of Politics

“…Thus, girls may be uninterested in political processes and running for office, despite being highly interested in policy and community issues (Bedolla, ; Briggs, ; Fox & Lawless, ; Taft, ). In their studies of elementary‐school‐aged children, neither Bigler et al () nor Patterson et al () found gender/sex differences in children's belief that they could become president if they so desired. Furthermore, Bigler et al () found no gender/sex differences in rates at which boys and girls expressed an interest in becoming U.S. president.…”

“…Research that has examined political attitudes, however, suggests that this is often not the case. For example, Patterson, Pahlke, and Bigler () reported that nearly all of the 6‐ to 11‐year‐olds that they interviewed expressed a preference for one candidate over another in the 2008 U.S. presidential election. In a French study, Lignier and Pagis () found that by age 10, the majority of children in their sample demonstrated a preference for either “the left” or “the right” and could articulate the reasons for their preference in political or policy‐related terms.…”

“…As would be expected given the role of income in political participation, African American and Latinx individuals are less likely to vote, make campaign contributions, and affiliate with a political organization compared to their White counterparts (APSA, ). In addition, minority youth have less developed political knowledge and lower levels of political engagement compared to White youth (Patterson et al, ; Torney‐Purta, Barber, & Wilkenfeld, ; van Deth, Abendschön, & Vollmar, ). According to the latest report on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), White eighth‐grade students in the United States consistently outperform both African American and Latinx eighth graders on tests of civics knowledge (National Center for Education Statistics, ).…”

“…Relative to research on gender/sex representation and political engagement, there is less work on racial/ethnic representation, and the findings of existing studies are less clear. Some studies in the United States have found lower political engagement or knowledge among students of color than among White students (Alozie, Simon, & Merrill, ; Patterson et al, ), but other studies have not found group differences (Bigler, Arthur, Hughes, & Patterson, ), or have found inconsistent differences across racial groups (Torney‐Purta et al, ).…”

Adolescents’ Evaluations of Political Leaders: The Case of President Donald Trump

“…Less research has examined how adolescents evaluate political leaders (Patterson, Pahike, & Bigler, ). A few national polls have asked adolescents whether they approve or disapprove of national political leaders such as the president (Pew Research Center, ).…”