Purchase Models of Unity


Purchase Models of Unity II

The National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha´is of the United States has long been concerned that racial and religious conflict dominate discussion of intergroup relations in the media and in academic publishing. Believing that harmony and cooperation can exist among different races and religions, and that it can occur on an individual and personal basis as well as between organizations, the Assembly has conducted two studies of racial and religious amity to serve as a counterpoint and corrective to descriptions of intergroup conflict.

The results of the first investigation, co-sponsored by the Human Relations Foundation of Chicago, were published in February 1992, under the title “Models of Unity: Racial, Ethnic, and Religious":

"The results of the Models of Unity project were quite gratifying. The working hypothesis of the study – that a very large number and a very wide range of efforts to bring people together exist – was amply supported by the models that were found and the efforts that interviewees mentioned to the interviewers."
Models of Unity II
Purchase "Models of Unity II"

A follow-up study was conducted in 1995 to see whether the kinds of amity and cooperation found in the Chicago area exist in Atlanta as well. The specific goals and objectives of the study were to determine:

1. To what degree, if at all, there is regular interracial contact on a personal basis (that is, outside of governmental and organizational contacts), and to what degree there is regular interreligious contact on a personal basis.
2. If and when such contacts exist and to ascertain where they are likely to occur
3. To what degree they lead to personal friendships, socializing, and community and neighborhood activities.
4. To collect and analyze case studies of interracial and interreligious cooperation, amity and unity.

Methodology

The work was conducted in two phases. The first phase focused on collecting statistical data from a large sample of people in metropolitan Atlanta. Interviews of 2,388 persons were conducted using Americom Research´s electronic interviewing system, consisting of computer-operated, freestanding kiosks. They were installed at nine K-Mart stores in the Atlanta area. Details about the system and how the work was conducted can be found in the Appendix.

The second phase of the research consisted of 159 follow-up interviews to develop case studies detailing how contacts, interracial and interreligious, have led to friendship and cooperation. These interviews were conducted by telephone on a sub-sample of volunteers who indicated in phase one that such friendship and cooperation had developed and who agreed to more in-depth questioning. The telephone data were examined especially for the light they shed on interracial interactions; interreligious interaction was a secondary concern. Data were collected primarily to clarify the previous results and to highlight trends; no attempt was made to analyze the interviews statistically.

Summary of Key Findings and Conclusions

Interracial Contacts and Interaction

1. Three-fourths of the Caucasians and about two thirds of the African-Americans interviewed said they have regular contact with one or more persons of a different race. Contact was highest among those with college degrees.
2. Except for those 18 or younger, the primary place for such interracial contact was at work. For younger persons, the primary place was at school. In addition, almost one-third said such contact occurs at home, in the neighborhood or in community organizations.
3. More thanr eight of 10 respondents reporting interracial contact said their contacts led to personal friendships; three of four said they got together on social occasions.
4. About half of those with interracial contact reported it led to participation in community or neighborhood projects. African-Americans were slightly more likely than Caucasians to report such participation.

Interreligious Contacts and Interaction

1. More than two-thirds of the respondents reported having regular contact with one or more persons of a different religion. Such contact was more likely as age increased and among persons with higher levels of education and higher income. It was lowest among Baptists and African-Americans.
2. The workplace for adults and school for those 18 or younger wsa the most frequently named locations of contact with persons of a different religion. About 30 percent said such contact took place at home, in their neighborhood or at a meeting of community organizations.
3. About eight of 10 reported that such interreligious contact led to personal friendships and getting together on social occasions.
4. Almost half reported that interreligious contact led to participation in community or neighborhood projects.

Results of the Telephone Interviews

1. Spiritual and religious values often proved to be a motivating factor in efforts to reach out to others.
2. Considerable skepticism was expressed about the ability of government to ensure equality.
3. Many felt great personal responsibility for bringing about improvements in interracial and interreligious relations; some said they take pride in their efforts.

The research suggested that in metropolitan Atlanta:

1. There was substantial evidence of interracial and interreligious contacts on an individual, personal basis, without the necessary sponsorship or intervention of governmental or organizational efforts.
2. The primary points of such contacts were those logically to be expected: the school and the workplace. There also appeared to be substantial regular contacts at home and in the neighborhood. Thus, there were a multitude of daily opportunities for friendship and cooperation to develop.
3. It is evident that considerable friendship and cooperation develops from contacts at work, school and in or near the home. Individuals are not only capable of developing close friendships with persons of different ethnic and religious backgrounds, but actually do so. They appear to develop their friendships not in reaction to pressure from government or institutional policies, but because of an internally-generated desire to do so. Many were found to take pride in their personal commitment to equality and pursue interracial friendships even at the cost of criticism from family and peers.