Public Policy Polling released some more polling data on interracial marriage.

[randomness]

They polled the question in Georgia, North Carolina, and Mississippi.

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Here's the data by state and political affiliation to the question, "Do you think interracial marriage should be legal or illegal?":

Georgia (790 voters):
Legal: 62%
Illegal: 22%
Not sure: 15%

Georgia Democrat:
Legal: 67%
Illegal: 20%
Not sure: 13%

Georgia Republican:
Legal: 52%
Illegal: 29%
Not sure: 19%

Georgia Independent/Other:
Legal: 74%
Illegal: 13%
Not sure: 13%

---

North Carolina (507 voters):
Legal: 68%
Illegal: 20%
Not sure: 12%

North Carolina Democrat
Legal: 74%
Illegal: 15%
Not sure: 11%

North Carolina Republican:
Legal: 55%
Illegal: 30%
Not sure: 14%

North Carolina Independent/Other:
Legal: 80%
Illegal: 11%
Not sure: 9%

---

Mississippi (817 voters):
Legal: 54%
Illegal: 28%
Not sure: 18%

Mississippi Democrat:
Legal: 68%
Illegal: 18%
Not sure: 14%

Mississippi Republican:
Legal: 39%
Illegal: 41%
Not sure: 19%

Mississippi Independent/Other:
Legal: 56%
Illegal: 21%
Not sure: 22%

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Another noteworthy result is that when broken down by age (18-29, 30-45, 46-65, over 65), more people in the 18 to 29 group thought interracial marriage should be illegal than any other group except those over 65. This was true in each state. (GA: 28%, NC: 26%, MS: 36%). In each state, more 18-29s believed that interracial marriage should be illegal than the sample of all ages.

PPP has asked for suggestions for national poll questions; I suggested they ask this question nationwide.

PPP's press release, with all the questions and crosstabs.

Comments

[dianec42.livejournal.com]

For the 18-29s it's more like "again" than "still"...

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

I was about to say the same thing, but likely not as well. *agrees*

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

"more people in the 18 to 29 group thought interracial marriage should be illegal than any other group except those over 65"

Because people are getting less racist over time, right? *sigh*

Thank you for posting this, depressing though it is.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

It is *so* not just you.

[rednikki.livejournal.com]

Holy crap.

[tavella.livejournal.com]

Actually, no, I doubt they will be consistent, if only because they aren't consistent within the South. North Carolina, which has moved more and more into the northeastern sphere of influence, has much saner results even among Republicans, for example.

I do suspect you will find pockets of nasty results if you did all the states, especially those heavily influenced by the Southern racial dynamic, such as Indiana.

[st-rev.livejournal.com]

Consider how many of those younger people are just trolling, though.

[orichalcum.livejournal.com]

Whenever I get depressed by things like this, I go back to this picture: http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/3964714398/

It gives me a combination of hope and satisfaction.

[orichalcum.livejournal.com]

Or this one, which is almost better: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Barack_Obama_with_his_niece_Savita_in_the_Oval_Office.jpg

[jendaviswilson.livejournal.com]

Well, that sheds light on why the "gay marriage is today's interracial marriage" argument doesn't seem to work.

[digitalemur.livejournal.com]

You may be right about the pockets. They may contribute to state-wide results but not really be revealed by those results.

[jtdiii.livejournal.com]

I meant in aggregate, but yeah, it is mind boggling.

[cerebralpaladin.livejournal.com]

Oh, I entirely agree with this as well. I thought about mentioning the possibility that some of the "very liberal" respondents might be populist-style economic liberals who are also socially conservative. I just think it's important to note that for that category in particular, n is quite low.

[achinhibitor.livejournal.com]

Well, racism seems to be universal in all cultures, but how "race" is defined and which ones to hate are learned...

[achinhibitor.livejournal.com]

Boston was known as "the most racist city in the North" for decades. School integration was a worse trainwreck here than almost anywhere else. (And the way it was implemented particularly saddled the Irish-American ghettos with trouble, and left the comfortable suburbanites entirely undisturbed. But classism has always been far more vigorous in Boston than racism.) Even now, I'd go check the police records before considering hosting a "black" conference in Southie...

[achinhibitor.livejournal.com]

You do wonder, given that the "not sure" category is over 10% in almost all cases. I mean, how can you be "not sure" about something so simple?

I did read one analysis that noted that trying to figure out the fraction of gays in the population was complicated by the large fraction of people who don't know what "heterosexual" means, so it's hard to survey people on the subject.

[bedfull-o-books.livejournal.com]

Word.

[cerebralpaladin.livejournal.com]

Well, to be fair, even Mississippi has a 54:28 spread, and that's by a wide margin the worst spread of any of the states surveyed. If we had a 54:28 split on same-sex marriage in every state, we'd have marriage equality everywhere. I'm not saying that these numbers aren't depressing, sad, and scary--they totally are. But they also reflect an issue where the good news is that there is quite solid majoritarian support for the right conclusion.

Re: *facepalm*

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

Word.

[julianyap.livejournal.com]

"White", "African-American" and "Other"? Surprisingly small selection, though I suppose it's better than saying "White", "Black", "Off-white"

[julianyap.livejournal.com]

What's really surprising to me is how anti-interracial marriage the 18-29 group is.

Maybe...

[ddreslough.livejournal.com]

Maybe they're just not that into-Rachel, and asked if there should be a law forcing them to marry her, they declined?

I weep for our future.

I find the whole concept of this poll highly offensive.

[fin9901.livejournal.com]

If you don't understand why, then imagine if I commissioned a poll of California, Illinois, and Massachusetts asking if the human race should be wiped out for the good of the planet. I'll bet you dollars to donuts that the percentage of yes answers from Democrats and liberals would be higher than in the other groups. Would that prove anything? Of course not, just like this poll doesn't prove anything.

Interracial marriage is an issue that has been settled for a long time and there's absolutely no political movement whatsoever to change that. Polling on this is just stirring the pot.

Re: I find the whole concept of this poll highly offensive.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

I'm in an interracial couple, and I want to know.

I'm particularly interested in having California, Illinois, and Massachusetts polled on this question. (Well, Illinois not so much, but New York, definitely, and Washington State.)

I want to know how many people think what I'm doing should be illegal.

So, go be offended. I'd commission the poll if I had the money.

Re: I find the whole concept of this poll highly offensive.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

I will agree with you that singling out Georgia, North Carolina, and Mississippi is offensive; I'd actually like to see this poll done all over Earth, because one of the most irritating things I read in discussions about racism is that it's somehow local to the Southern US.