Are race-related rumors rooted in personality traits? Are they a kind of improvised news for a community? Do they come and go at random or form definite, recognizable patterns? What role do the news media play in spreading rumors? These and other questions are treated in this study, of how and why rumors emerge in connection with racial disorders.

Preface 1. The Pervasiveness of Rumor 2. Race and Rumor: A Historical Overview 3. The Formation of Rumor: Theoretical Perspectives 4. Rumors and Racial Disorders: The Process Model 5. Racial Disorder in the 1960s: The Process Model Tested 6. The Role of Formal Groups: Implications for Public Policy