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%

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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%

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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

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.

[fin9901.livejournal.com]

Even if I didn't find the poll concept offensive, I still wouldn't put any credence to it; the polling company used to do polls for Markos (of dailyKos) until he fired them for bad polling. Furthermore, one-off polls, especially on oddball subjects like this, are generally useless; it takes multiple consistent polls before you can say anything definitively.

I can understand your personal connection to the subject matter, but that doesn't change my view that this poll's only value is as political masturbatory material, so liberals can say to each other 'huhuhuhuh Republicans are racist huhuhuhuhuhuh'. The comments above fairly well illustrate that.

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

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Actually, it was Research 2000 Markos fired in June 2010. He hired PPP to replace them. (Unless you're talking about a much more recent firing, for which I can't find evidence on the web.) Research 2000 did seem to be a bad outfit, although given that I consider Kos kind of a nut, I'm not sure I'd use him as a reference. Carl Bialik and Mark Blumenthal both seemed to think PPP has had accurate results.

If it were up to me I'd be funding those "multiple consistent polls" out of my own pocket; my own pocket not being up to that right now, I have to take advantage of the only poll in recent memory which has bothered to ask this question.

Although people have been making political hay about this poll around the blogosphere, for me this isn't about politics, it's personal. I was glad when they released the full results from Mississippi because I thought it was unfair to put out ones singling out Republicans without context. I'll be even more glad if they do polling on this subject in blue states, because I think it'll still be unfair until they poll everywhere. (More importantly, I want to see numbers for places I spend lots of time in.)

You're welcome to your view on the value of this poll. But that doesn't mean it's going to lack value for me.

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

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

i share your sense of offense. my own dad thinks of my own relationships as mostly interracial, though not in the terms of this poll. i take some comfort from my dad's learning to appreciate my spouse's family, which at least seems to indicate that some people are sometimes at least partially salvageable.

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

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

also? "the political is the personal" -- bummer about that :(

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

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Okay, for clarity here:

I am saying that I am not using this poll as a cudgel to bash the Republican Party, regardless of what other people are doing. That's what I mean by "political" in the context of the comment thread.

I am saying that I consider this poll useful information as a guide to how many people are going to consider my relationship problematic. That's what I mean by "personal" in the context of this comment thread.

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

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

thanks for the clarification.

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

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

You're welcome!

I have been talking past people and thought that a clear explanation of what I was trying to say was overdue.

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.

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

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

*nods* i also think that using the racial categories they did is lunatic in a worldwide sense. i often wonder if the reason we had such colossal failure in rwanda would be the american perception that hutu and tutsi people were "both black". to do this right i think you'd have to let the people polled describe "race" in their own terms. (possibly the exercise of answering such a question might even help for some.)