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Abstract
This study explored the complexity of racial discrimination based on the strength of racial identity and gender of Black job applicants and their influence on hiring decisions. The researcher presented standard resumes with a name (e.g., Latonya or Laurie) and professional affiliation manipulation to 285 White students who indicated their intent to hire, collective self-esteem and social class attitude. Results indicated that the strength of racial identity and gender did not influence the participants intent to hire. Unexpectedly, parallel analysis revealed that the participants perception of racial identity influenced their intention to hire such that perceived strongly racially identified Blacks were evaluated more favorably than were perceived weakly racially identified Blacks. In addition, the reported income level of the participants parents served to moderate this relationship. Finally, class attitudes did not mediate the strength of racial identity - intent to hire relationship, providing support for the discrimination explanation (Bertrand & Mullainathan, 2004). Implications and directions for future research are discussed.