The specter of discrimination: Fear of interpersonal racial discrimination among adolescents in Chicago

•Half of Black and Hispanic adolescents feared racial discrimination in the past year.•Adolescents express greater fear of racial discrimination than their parents.•Personal victimization experiences predict greater discrimination fear.•Parents' exposure to discrimination increases adolescent discrimination fear.•Black and Hispanic adolescents' discrimination fear varies with neighborhood racial composition.

This analysis examines fear of interpersonal racial discrimination among Black, Hispanic, and White adolescents. The extent and correlates of these concerns are examined using survey data from the Project for Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods. Borrowing from the fear-of-crime literature, the contact hypothesis, and group threat theory, several hypotheses are developed linking discrimination fear to direct personal experience with discrimination, indirect or vicarious experience, and environmental signals of discrimination. Results show that about half of Blacks and Hispanics have feared discrimination in the past year. Multivariate results indicate that fear is most likely if one has experienced victimization first-hand and when one's parent is affected by discrimination. Further, a larger presence neighborhood outgroups produces greater fear. Overall, discrimination fear constitutes an additional obstacle for minority adolescents as they transition to adulthood. The phenomenon warrants increased scholarly attention and represents a fruitful avenue for future research.