The Color of Culture

Using analyses of written sources with statistical modeling of survey data, Daniel H. Krymkowski documents the extent and causes of African American underrepresentation in the cultural realms of golf, hiking, hunting and fishing, water sports, winter sports, classical music, painting and sculpture, ballet, and the theater. African American participation significantly lags behind that of non-Hispanic whites in all of these areas, and it is not due to an aversion to these types of activities. Rather, as Krymkowski shows, its primary sources are racial-ethnic socioeconomic differences, as well as historic and contemporary discrimination, both overt and subtle. These causes are rooted in the systemic racism that continues to plague the United States. The lack of opportunity to participate in such cultural forms deprives African Americans of aesthetic experiences that are central to the human condition, and it has implications for both health and the accumulation of cultural and social capital. Krymkowski also explores current efforts to increase African American representation in these areas of culture and analyzing the benefits of increased representation in these areas.