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

[randomness]

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

---

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

[jtdiii.livejournal.com]

That they still feel that way in this day and age, is rather scary...

[bloodstones.livejournal.com]

Seriously? Who are these people and what bloody century do they think they're living in? I'm trying to think of some more intelligent commentary to add, but I keep coming back to 'and why can't I set them on fire?' instead. That's not helpful.

[st-rev.livejournal.com]

I am really curious to see what the breakdown is by race.

[st-rev.livejournal.com]

It's also awfully strange that 'very liberal' Georgians were about as opposed to interracial marriage as 'very conservative' Georgians.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

It's there in the pdf. In each state the percentage in favor of making interracial marriage illegal is higher among whites than any of the other races.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

That is a weird result, yah.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

As you can imagine, my emotions are rather complicated right now.

[bloodstones.livejournal.com]

I realize it's not an effective strategy, but there's a reason why I really like living in my happy liberal bubble and pretending that the rest of bigoted, racist, homophobic, misogynistic world doesn't exist. I find it overwhelming to realize how much of the world still needs to change.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Well...there's a reason I suggested they ask this question nationwide.

I am kind of dreading the numbers I'd see from here. But I feel like I should know.

[cerebralpaladin.livejournal.com]

I dunno--60:29 doesn't seem the same to me as 43:31, and I think it's more relevant to look at both the "should be legal" and the "should be illegal" numbers than either alone. But there definitely are some odd results in the "very liberal" categories, possibly because the total number of people in that category is low. With 11% of 790 respondents answering "very liberal," that means that the total number of people in that category is about 87. Out of 87 people, 29% represents about 24 people total. So a couple of loony people, or people with idiosyncratic definitions of very liberal, or whatever, ends up making a big difference.

I have to say, I find this data really scary and appalling. Thanks for sharing it, r_ness.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Thanks for sharing it, r_ness.

You're welcome. For obvious reasons, I very much wanted to post.

[st-rev.livejournal.com]

Huh, not sure how I missed that.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

It's not the best organized release I've seen. I had to go back and forth over it to get the numbers I was looking for.

[donnad.livejournal.com]

I was going to say that that is pretty scary, but in reality, it's pretty sad. Racism is learned and it goes back generations.

*facepalm*

[rmd.livejournal.com]

DEAR RACIST WHITE PEOPLE: YOU ARE MAKING ME LOOK BAD BY ASSOCIATION. PLEASE BE A CREDIT TO YOUR RACE AND STOP THAT SHIT RIGHT THE FUCK NOW.

[lillibet.livejournal.com]

I find the 18-29 data interesting, because they are the people getting married.

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

interesting. i would love to see a breakdown by self-defined race.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

It's in the pdf. In each state the percentage in favor of making interracial marriage illegal is higher among whites than any of the other races.

They offer "white", "African-American", and "other" as options.

[karakara98.livejournal.com]

"But definitely there are some odd results in the 'very liberal' categories"

Those results don't strike me as odd. I think we need to more explicitly define "liberal" and "conservative" along both social and fiscal/governance lines. It does not strike me as odd at all that there are people who are "liberal" on government intervention on things like welfare and healthcare, but who are socially "conservative" or even racist.

I think I'm more sensitive to it for a couple of reasons. One being more conservative than some of my friends on fiscal/governance issues while being not so happy with the socially conservative aspects of the Republican party makes me wish for 3rd and 4th parties. Second, my grandfather was a classic "yellow dog" Southern democrat and would probably have answered with "should be illegal." It doesn't surprise me that that persists two decades later.

[karakara98.livejournal.com]

Yes, I am in favor of repeating this on a nationwide basis. I think the answers would be surprisingly consistent. As long as we persist in believing that racism is only a problem in "the South" the less well we'll be able to solve the problems that racism causes. Also, the more "the South" is marginalized as racist, the more polarized our nation will be and the less we'll be able to solve other national problems.

[karakara98.livejournal.com]

P.S. This is not to say that I'm happy with the Republican party along any axis. I guess I've become a moderate in my middle age, but I'm still willing to bet I'm more conservative than many friends on what the role of government should be. :)

[allyphoe.livejournal.com]

My dad's response: "They probably just think it's a bad idea." Is it just me, or was there an implied "Oh, they aren't racist," prefacing that comment?

Me, glancing at oblivious interracial Alex sitting on the couch: Keep your mouth shut, you idiot.
Him: Oh, I'm sorry.
Me: No, you aren't. That's why you need to keep your mouth shut.

Gah.

[flit.livejournal.com]

I should know better because I've seen this crap up close and in person in supposedly liberal California, but a lot of that was when I was a kid and I keep hoping that it would be better by NOW.

[digitalemur.livejournal.com]

I've also asked them via twitter to poll this question nationwide.

[digitalemur.livejournal.com]

Yes, exactly. Specialized racism issues exist all over the country, and this isn't only the Eastern South's problem, nor is it only an Arizona problem, etc etc etc. Heck, Boston has been trying to show African-American Organizations that it's not scary to hold conferences in Boston and that race relations really have been improving-- and I believe there has been improvement, but I understand why some orgs feel very cautious about seeking conference venues in Boston.