AP poll: Majority harbor prejudice against blacks

[Pale Blue Dot]

Source: NBC News

Racial prejudice has increased slightly since 2008 whether those feelings were measured using questions that explicitly asked respondents about racist attitudes, or through an experimental test that measured implicit views toward race without asking questions about that topic directly.

In all, 51 percent of Americans now express explicit anti-black attitudes, compared with 48 percent in a similar 2008 survey.

When measured by an implicit racial attitudes test, the number of Americans with anti-black sentiments jumped to 56 percent, up from 49 percent during the last presidential election. In both tests, the share of Americans expressing pro-black attitudes fell.

"As much as we'd hope the impact of race would decline over time ... it appears the impact of anti-black sentiment on voting is about the same as it was four years ago," said Jon Krosnick, a Stanford University professor who worked with AP to develop the survey.

Most Americans expressed anti-Hispanic sentiments, too. In an AP survey done in 2011, 52 percent of non-Hispanic whites expressed anti-Hispanic attitudes. That figure rose to 57 percent in the implicit test. The survey on Hispanics had no past data for comparison.

Read more: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/27/14740413-ap-poll-majority-harbor-prejudice-against-blacks?lite

[Kolesar]

1. GD forum thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021643788

[roguevalley]

19. fox news legits open racism

[lindysalsagal]

2. Bigotry=51%, Obama=49%

Do the math.

[ywcachieve]

15. You have to figure in the non-racist whites, as well as

all the other non-racists who support the Democratic party. Blacks, whites, Asians, Latinos, Jews, most vote Democratic.

People have to rememebr President Obama WON the last time, and it took whites as well as other races to get him where he is. And he will win again.

The racists DO NOT out-number the non-racists in this country. This is why President Obama won the first time.

[lunasun]

24. yes that is the only way he won last time -inclusion- McCain won more of the white vote in '08

when looking at just that one race not all people .
But when you add other minorities besides blacks, Obama won in '08
but this is saying among all people the numbers are high

[hughee99]

40. According to this survey, at 51%, they do outnumber non-racists. n/t

[yardwork]

41. Some white racists will vote for Obama anyway.

Just because a person is racist, it is not automatic that they will vote against the black guy. I've worked in rural North Carolina for many years, and I grew up in rural Ohio. Lots of racism among rural whites. Despite this, they still go to black doctors, often choosing the black doctor over a white one who doesn't have as good a reputation. Same with sexism. Lots of sexism among men all over the country, but they will still choose a female doctor, attorney, etc.

Deep-seated racism is difficult to overcome but it isn't the only factor in the choices that people make.

[24601]

52. I can't speak for everyone of course, but when it comes to digital exams, I'll take the

smaller hands of a female doctor over the big fingers of a larger male evey time. Race, color, religion, etc matter not at all to me. Experience & expertise do matter, but they are not invidious.

[deadbrokediva]

3. I love how the bigots

will complain about blacks feeling entitled to food stamps and welfare and whatnot. They seem to forget that blacks worked here for free for 250 years, so yeah, if that were my history I'd feel more than a little entitled myself.

That being said, I don't pay much attention to polls. A poll of 50 or 100 people doesn't represent the entire country.

[MisterJones]

10. I am black and I do not feel entitled, however I do feel that the table is tilted.

nt.

[yardwork]

42. I'm white and I agree with you. The playing field is still not even close to even, but I don't know

a single black person who feels entitled to anything. I have met white people on government assistance who feel entitled. Hell, most of the people at Republican rallies are white people on medicare and social security and they act as entitled as anybody I've ever seen. Romney and his family obviously feel entitled to get as much as they can from the U.S.

[lalalu]

16. That is used to disguise their full intent in addition to being a lie.

They first used black people, welfare, and the entitlement argument to make it seem like black people were draining the nation. It went over well because of racism.

Notice how now "entitlements" include things like social security, healthcare,public workers, and veterans benefits. Romney said 47%, not 47% of black people.

Black people are the scapegoats used to keep the majority of Americans occupied with race and ignoring what is really going on.

[lunasun]

21. ah...what about all the whites on welfare and food stamps - what do they feel????????

[goclark]

35. believe more whites are on food stamps

than Blacks.

Google link available

[Baitball Blogger]

4. Well, hell's bells.

I could have told you that ten years ago.

[Zambero]

5. I've sensed this for some time now

Individuals that I had not ever suspected of being racially prejudiced are revealing themselves, and are more "forthcoming" these days. The right-wing echo chamber is repeating the same false mantra about welfare cheats, food stamps, birtherism, etc., which is having a measurable impact particlarly among low information and just plain ignorant people. This process will slowly reverse itself in time as bigots die off and future generations increasingly abandon the all-too-prevalent "us vs. them" attitude toward race.

[ywcachieve]

11. Government stats.

Government stats show, the majority of government aid recipients are white people. That includes, food stamps, welfare, Medicaid, and housing assistance. You can find the government stats on display on the internet.

[Zambero]

32. Projection & Denial

When people refuse to face up to their own perceived weakness or shortcoming, they often choose a convenient stereotype instead. To some, a white food stamp recipient or single parent would not perceived as being "one of us", but a black or Latino food stamp recipient or single parent is readily categorized as "one of them". I'm not 100% convinced than humans are the most intelligent life forms on the planet.

[Populist_Prole]

36. I have too. What's worse is they are my best friends

The anti-Obama furor has really really peaked, even more funny since they were anti-Bush populists before.

Funnier yet, one of them is mad his teen age son thinks he's a bigot. Says his kid just says that because "he doesn't know sh*t about the world yet". Man, talk about denial and sour grapes!

[sinkingfeeling]

6. I am so ashamed of this country. I think I will tell people I'm from Canada.

[Neoma]

31. Racism exists in Canada also.

[intheflow]

7. Racism is a social construct devised by the wealthy

to keep the poor people divided - and not join together to overthrow their corporate overlords. Given the economic climate these past four years, this news doesn't surprise me in the least.

[lalalu]

12. Thank You

Someone else gets it. It is a tool used by the rich to keep us divided. In the past the left got this but we have been so divided that some can't see the connection.

[Zambero]

33. The very purpose for post-Civil War segregation in the South

Divide and conquer. Empower poor whites to isolate, persecute, and deprive poor blacks of basic rights, thereby assuring that there can be no common cause between them that might challenge the economic status quo.

[Chakab]

8. In other news:

Water is still wet.

[dipsydoodle]

9. They need some Two Tone / Ska

that'd knit them together.

If anyone is in London tonight The Dualers , pure Ska , are on tonight at The Castle, Finchley Road NW11. To find me ask for the guvner Denis and ask him to point you towards Richard.

[mwooldri]

13. Our of curiosity, where can this test be found?

I know that I have some biases in me, and some prejudices that I am personally working on eliminating. I believe everyone has some prejudice in them against a particular group of people. I know it is unhealthy.

But it is a case of pure curiosity on my part because I want to challenge what prejudices I have. I don't know if these changes are coming about because of a) President Obama, or b) increase in the Hispanic-American population, or c) both.

I am an immigrant. I grew up in a 98% white neighbourhood. There were no children of non-English origins in my primary school. At secondary, we had two - one of Afro-Caribbean descent, the other the son of an immigrant from the Seychelles. When I moved here of course the first thing I noticed is that it was more mixed. When I went back to university, I chose NC A&T because of its strong engineering background, not because of its "black history".

But if there is such a test online, I'd like to take it. To challenge myself.

[lalalu]

14. "When we've seen progress, we've also seen backlash."

There is a war by the rich on working class Americans. Divide and conquer is one of their weapons. When programs benefiting working Americans are implemented they help us all. Black Americans do not benefit at levels as high because of historical racism. When programs are abolished they hurt all Americans.

[proud2BlibKansan]

17. How The Associated Press polls were conducted

The Associated Press polls were designed to dig into one of the most sensitive subjects in American politics: racial attitudes and their effect on how people will vote in an election in which the nation's first black president could be re-elected.

The surveys, designed by AP and researchers at Stanford University, University of Michigan and NORC at the University of Chicago, included overt questions aimed at understanding people's attitudes toward blacks and Hispanics, such as how well words like "friendly" or "violent" describe African-Americans or Hispanics. They were also asked their views of President Barack Obama and his challenger, former Gov. Mitt Romney.

Since many people are uncomfortable discussing race with pollsters or others they do not know, and some may not be aware of their own biases, the polls also used subtler techniques.

For one thing, the surveys were conducted online. Studies have shown people are more willing to reveal potentially unpopular attitudes on a computer than in questioning by a live interviewer.

The polls also used a technique aimed at measuring what psychologists call "affect misattribution." This involved showing faces of people of different races quickly on a screen before displaying a neutral image that people were asked to rate as pleasant or unpleasant. Studies have shown that people consciously or unconsciously transfer their feelings about the photograph to the object they are rating.


Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/10/27/3887625/how-the-associated-press-polls.html#storylink=cpy

[nichomachus]

18. How the "White Race" was created

Always worth watching -- even if you've seen it before

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=HGTPfXB2Sqk&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DHGTPfXB2Sqk

[lunasun]

20. Duh .....news to the "majority" I guess but not to minorities living it......

[jsr]

22. But but Rush says there is no racism in America anymore

[mountain grammy]

23. Depressing...

[Justice4All1]

25. Obama's race is the only thing that's always worried me about this election

But then again they've always used race against democrats. Luckily with shifting demographics, repukes won't be able to use racial politics anymore without intense boomerang negative effect, not that it's working to their advantage this time as they've lost Latinos, Asians and other immigrants like Jews & Muslims.
They've been discriminated against too, so they're not too keen on racial politics.
The plutocrats will lose their most effective tool to keeping the middle Class under their thumb, voting against self --all good things must come to an end, right?

[mountain grammy]

26. Me too.. if he was 100% white, this wouldn't be close

I remember what a good friend told me in 2008: When he was asked how he could vote for a black man, he responded "I'm voting for the white half." Will that satisfy the racists? Probably not.

[lindysalsagal]

49. Even if he were 100% black , his numbers might be better

I've read that there are substantial numbers who are ok with blacks, but not with intermarriage, and Barack is a product of intermarriage of a white american woman to a black kenyan. there are people who resent that our president is of mixed descent.

Really hard to establish data for that, though.

[lunatica]

27. So what explains the fact that Obama was elected in 2008?

Or that the US has lots of Hispanic and Black elected officials in various positions, from mayors to legislators to Governors?

And people fall for the myths.

[bhikkhu]

28. Fox and hate radio have been hammering it in for four years now

I'm not surprised that its had an effect.

I wish every news organization had carved over their main doors the statement of our rights - "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights".

Among other things, like "thou shalt not lie", or whatever version of that worked for them.

[heaven05]

29. well

Last edited Sat Oct 27, 2012, 12:36 PM - Edit history (2)

This IS amerika. Amerika has had this cancer for a looooong time. When the christian preachers in amerika started telling lies about race, god's chosen(white people/manifest destiny) and blacks, when they were dumped here in 1619, people believed these lies because preach doesn't have an agenda . Our trouble started in this little d democracy in 1619 and here it is 2012 and blacks are still being damned along with their Hispanic brethren by 'good' christian amerikans and their god. Yeah a majority base their racism on the evil and lies that have always been spewed from the pulpit and political parties. Now we've ended up with a sad, sad history and commentary on our little d democracy. I hope amerikans wake up one day. I'm not surprised, outraged, offended because what can be expected with a track record such as is being borne out by the numbers in this OP and with a white man who has a religion that denied black people souls until 1979 running for the highest office in this little d democracy and has MILLIONS voting for him. So this information does not surprise me at all. Ahhhh! What's the use even commenting. It won't change a damn thing in the pig shit racist mind that has demonized brown skinned human beings since the beginning of time. Amerika the beautiful, what a crock!!!!!

[newspeak]

30. it has been cultivated for a long time in this country

the media, politicians, and I agree, it is meant to keep the plebes divided. they need a scapegoat to take the public's focus off of who is really doing the damage to this country. so, the stereotype, "lazy," "shiftless," "non-white," "feeding off of others," is about "those people."

when I was in psychology class in college, the professor showed a film-a public transit with people on it and someone stole a "white" woman's purse. after the film, she asked "who stole the purse?" most of the class said the african american stole the purse (I actually didn't know who stole it). she showed the film again and pointed out the very white guy stole it. she was demonstrating how repeated memes even brainwash our mind into what we perceive.

and my class was over twenty years ago, it's just gotten worse because of blowhards like limpballs, and the other "fear the different" arseholes.

[Brickbat]

34. I'm sure I would have shown up on the implicit racial attitudes test.

It happens. I know I have feelings, thoughts and actions that are irrational reactions to a person's race. That's racist.

[ChaoticTrilby]

37. Wonderful. So, a huge majority of American people are racist.

Can't say it's too surprising, given how natural it is for human behavior. I am glad to say that I took the racial attitudes test a while back and didn't exhibit any racism at all, but even people who are not consciously racist or hateful can still harbor unconscious racist attitudes.

I'd like to hope that this will change in the future, but it may very well not.

[Nostradammit]

48. Did you forget the sarcasm smilie?

51% is a "huge majority?"

In the first place, I don't trust AP to do anything honest, in the second place, this is obviously an attempt to soften people up so they'll accept the screwy vote totals after the unverifiable, corporate-owned electronic voting machines are finished with their "tabulations."

[ChaoticTrilby]

50. I was referring mostly to the implicit association percentages.

The ones that included a 54%. I suppose that a "huge" majority is exaggeration, but it is a majority and I still consider it to be a good fifty-four percent too many. And then there's the 57% racist towards Hispanics, which might be even more maddening. What really bugs me though, is the supposed increase over the past four years. You'd think this would be getting better.

As for the authenticity of the poll, it may be as you say. I hope it is and I hope that we'll be able to beat back the Republicans in their cheating. However, considering so many of the comments (even from elected politicians!) throughout this election, it is pretty clear that racism is still rampant and especially accepted by the rightwing. I'm just hoping that this will change.

[Nostradammit]

54. I share your hope -

and assure you that it will, eventually, change.

[dawn frenzy adams]

55. Never trust the AP

BINGO!!!!

[bklyncowgirl]

38. This I think is why that first debate was so devestating to Obama

It fed into the belief, imbibed by many white people, particularly working class white people like myself, with their mother's milk (or infant formular) that they are intellectually superior to black people. It used to drive me crazy hearing some of my parent's acquaintances, people who lacked two brain cells to rub together, talking about how black people were better off in slavery because at least then they had someone to take care of them. My parents were good people but they were a product of their generation and the place they were born. They could speak disparagingly of the gross discrimination in the south but still felt that black people were not, generally speaking as smart as white people, as capable as white people or as hard working as white people. They knew there were exceptions, of course, but deep down, each black person they met had to prove themselves.

You remember the criticisms. Can't debate. Inarticulate. Neetds a teleprompter. Can't think on his own. The same pundits who forgave George W. Bush, a man who fried his brains in a toxic stew of booze and cocaine early in his youth blunder after blunder were unforgiving to Obama and don't think that some people didn't listen.

I've worked pretty hard throughout my life to see people as individuals. It's an ongoing struggle and I think that anyone who is honest will tell you the same whatever their race. Still, I could imagine some of my parents friends and many of my peers as well, seeing this as proof of what they inspected. Barak Obama is a man who is reasonably intelligent for a black man--he is half white after all--but take away his script and his teleprompter and he is no match intellectually for a white man. They saw a white man who seemed prepared and assertive. A black man flummoxed and passive. I think too that inadvertantly, the reaction of well meaning supporters, people like Bill Maher (Maybe he really does need a teleprompter) and Chris Matthews fed into this.

The last two debates may have reassured some voters that the president was what they had thought he was all along. This is why Romney's surge has stopped but there are some people who made up their minds after that first debate, whose friends and acquaintances have pounded home the idea that Obama is not intellectually up to the job, that he will probably never get back.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

39. And the GOP has worked it's ass off to raise that number

Their spokesmen Drudge and Hannity have practically reinvented their careers in the last four years as one-stop shops for all your racist needs.

A sampling:

[Democratopia]

45. 51% - I think that is a sensationalist headline

Some prejudices against racial groups are not in themselves racist.

For example, a black man might not feel safe in a community where he is the only black. That wouldn't be racist. It would be fear, based on knowing there are plenty of racists who are white, that there is a good chance that some people in his neighborhood will hate him just because of his skin color. A white woman living in a community with a lot of blacks may have the same fears, and those fears would be greater if she has been exposed to media that seeks to divide people.

The GOP is the natural home for those who hate blacks or any minorities, apart from the minority group that are millionaires and billionaires. But the GOP also has black voters and black members. To hear the way people like Herman Cain speak, show that some blacks seem to have a problem with their own race. He boasts about his own success, while denigrating other blacks. He seems to have bought into the black stereotype and is trying to make a point that he is an exception. Fox News often uses blacks as mouthpieces to spew their anti-black rhetoric.

What I am saying is racism is a real problem in America, not helped by a political party and media organizations that exploit fears. Racial inequality and the widespread racial attitudes are as much a problem created by our society and our political system as it is the people. It affects us all, but I do not believe half the nation are racist.

[Zoeisright]

43. Many people in this country are devolving.

And they're all repukes.

[FreeState]

44. Was conducted Aug. 30 to Sept. 11. - this is late breaking news?

Why release it now... oh yeah, guess its the AP and NBC News that are the racists.

[fascisthunter]

46. was that sarcasm?

[Judi Lynn]

47. Damned odd, isn't it? I wondered why anyone would post it at all, if not to promote alienation. n/t

[We People]

51. I thought the timing was interesting, and I have similar thoughts to what others have said

I posted this on a duplicate thread that was locked due to being off-topic:


1. A majority of 51%? That's strange, being that it's only 1% more than the other half of the country, supposedly. That's all that's needed in an election to be a tie-breaker. Hmmm...

2. I have trouble believing that "Although Republicans were more likely than Democrats to express racial prejudice in the questions measuring explicit racism (79 percent among Republicans compared with 32 percent among Democrats), the implicit test found little difference between the two parties. That test showed a majority of both Democrats and Republicans held anti-black feelings (55 percent of Democrats and 64 percent of Republicans), as did about half of political independents (49 percent)." I could be accused of being in denial, but this seems like a "they do it too" kind of opportunity for some people to claim they are democrats when they are not...ANYMORE. I thought all those "Southern Democrats" back in the eighties had switched over to the GOP already...permanently!

I'm not as sure about whether these polls are designed to remind people of their prejudice, or to serve as some kind of cover for stealing an election. Maybe not, but with all these so-called mainstream media polls being conducted that consistently have it almost at 50-50 ("neck & neck&quot every day, I can't help being skeptical.

[L0oniX]

53. This news came up on my cell with Pocket Express. I thought it was new.

Maybe the poll is older but this is the first I've seen of it.

[panzerfaust]

56. Confidence Limits?

Are these results statistically different or not?

As usual, there is no way to know ...

Ah, buried paragraphs later in the article it is mentioned that there is a "sampling error" of +/- 4 in each of the studies. This overlaps and so demonstrates no significant difference between the two "experimental tests" - thus this "news" is simply a non-story.

Additionally, no mention is made of any attempts to address the much more difficult to quantify "non-sampling errors" which such testing is subject to.

What is disheartening though is the finding that:

Although Republicans were more likely than Democrats to express racial prejudice in the questions measuring explicit racism (79 percent among Republicans compared with 32 percent among Democrats), the implicit test found little difference between the two parties.
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/27/14740413-ap-poll-majority-harbor-prejudice-against-blacks?lite

"When does a Black man become ... ?"

We really need to move along as a society and abandon the intolerance and fear of our xenophobic and savage past. Sadly, with the growth of Fundamentalism we seem to be sliding back into darkness and ignorance.

Even more sadly, neither major US political party stands for the values of a progressive society. We have no left-wing willing to push for social justice and equality of opportunity.

The lamp beside the golden door grows dim as grues gather outside the shrinking circle of the light of The Enlightenment.