The authors outline three broad perspectives on attitudinal differences between African-American urbanites and suburbanites and use data from a survey of residents of Washington, D.C., and the adjoining Prince George’s County to test these propositions. The response patterns they observe deviate in numerous ways from expectations based on the assimilation and transplantation interpretations but are more consistent with the identity persistence interpretation, which posits an overriding attitudinal continuity among African-Americans, including African-American city dwellers and suburbanites.
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