Thinking more broadly, if desegregation and integration were really such a disaster in terms of American race relations, how is one to explain the plethora of statistical and anecdotal evidence suggesting a dramatic liberalization in
racial attitudes during the past four decades?
During the course of the volume, NAEP and Current Population Survey data are used to probe a broad range of variables, including teacher qualifications, hours spent watching television, levels of socioeconomic inequality, degrees of
racial segregation, particular school - reform policies, family structure, and race - specific cultural
attitudes.