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Although prejudice and discrimination have noticeably declined in the past 30 years, they have not disappeared. Still common are the covert and subtle forms of prejudice seen in daily interactions, and the societal structures like neighbourhoods and religious institutions that keep us apart. And those of us who work with children know that prejudice is present in our school populations. Like gender stereotypes, racial and ethnic stereotypes seem all too easy to learn. Stopping their hurtful and constraining effects on children can be an uphill battle, to be fought with each new cohort. Walter Stephan's new book on Reducing Prejudice and Stereotyping in Schools provides fresh insights on short- and long-term remedies to this endless problem.
Stephan is a long-time contributor to the empirical research on racial contact and harmony. Over the years, he has dispassionately reviewed and evaluated research on the outcome of the desegregation experience in the United States. Although the reader senses where Stephan's values lie -- and they are not with the conservative right -- one knows that he has been true to the evidence as it stands. His opener is therefore striking: "the simple remedies have been tried repeatedly and found wanting..." (p. xiii).
Describing the simple remedies and their evaluation form the better part of this book. Why they are found wanting is foreshadowed in the first two chapters, where Stephan takes us through a careful review of recent research on stereotyping and prejudice. After reading these two chapters, one is prepared for the difficulties faced by a well-intentioned educator who wants to make a difference. However, before one gets discouraged, let me say that while the remedies discussed by Stephan have not all worked, and none has completely banished prejudice and discrimination, several are more successful than others. Finally, Stephan extracts...