Conflict and convergence : race, public opinion and political behavior in Massachusetts : the University of Massachusetts McCormack Institute poll PDF
Preview Conflict and convergence : race, public opinion and political behavior in Massachusetts : the University of Massachusetts McCormack Institute poll
The John W. McCormack An Occasional Paper Conflict and Convergence: Race, Public Opinion and Political Behavior In Massachusetts The University ofMassachusetts McCormack Institute Poll Sponsored by The University ofMassachusetts President's Office TheJohn W. McCormack Institute ofPublic Affairs University ofMassachusetts Boston Louis DiNatale, Poll Director Robert L. Woodbury, Director, McCormack Institute June 1998 University of Massachusetts Boston The McCormack Institute TheJohnW. McCormack Institute ofPublic Affairs is a multi-purpose public policy research institute, established in 1983 at the University of Massachusetts Boston and named in honor ofthe lateJohnW. McCormack,former Speaker ofthe U.S. House ofRepresentatives. The institute's components include four centers, each with its own area offocus: the Center for State and Local Policy, the Center for Social Policy Research, the Center forWomen in Politics and Public Policy, and the Center for Democracy and Development.The institute also administers UMass Boston's M.S. Program in PublicAffairs and publishes Tlie New EnglandJournal ofPublic Policy. — The McCormack Institute's fellows and staff who are drawn from such div—erse fields asjournalism,politics and government,and the social sciences represent vital connections between the University commu- nity and centers ofpower and innovation in the private and public sectors.They are involved in university teaching, survey research, edu- cational outreach projects, and a variety ofpublications including books, academic papers,and newspaper columns; they also appear regu- larly as guest speakers,moderators,and panelists onTV and radio. Through the work ofthese distinguished academics and practitioners, the institute seeks to contribute to informed public discourse and to play a constructive role in public policy formulation and problem- solving. Tlie views contained in thispaper are those ofthe author(s) and not the John W.McCormack Institute ofPublicAffairs. CONFLICT AND CONVERGENCE: & RACE, PUBLIC OPINION POLITICAL BEHAVIOR MASSACHUSETTS IN The University of Massachusetts McCormack Institute Poll Sponsored by The University ofMassachusetts President's Office and the John W. McCormack Institute ofPublic Affairs University ofMassachusetts Boston Lou DiNatale, Poll Director Robert Woodbury, Director, McCormack Institute A collaborative project ofthe John W. McCormack Institute ofPublic Affairs William Monroe Trotter Institute Institute for Asian American Studies Mauricio Gaston Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy Project team (in alphabetical order) John Blydenburgh, Professor ofGovernment, Clark University Lou DiNatale, Senior Fellow, McCormack Institute Carol Hardy-Fanta, Research Director, Center for Women in Politics & Public Policy, McCormack Institute James Jennings, Director, Trotter Institute Mary Jo Marion, Associate Director, Gaston Institute Regina Rodriguez-Mitchell, Research Associate, Trotter Institute Andres Torres, Director, Gaston Institute Paul Watanabe, Co-Director, Institute for Asian American Studies Russell Williams, Research Associate, Trotter Institute Robert Woodbury, Director, McCormack Institute Reportpreparedby Paul Watanabe Carol Hardy-Fanta June 1998 Table of Contents About the poll 1 Racial & Ethnic Diversity: A Good Thing? 1 Are Conditions for Minority Groups Better? 2 Assessments ofMinority Groups' Chances 2 Experiences with Discrimination 4 -. Top Issues: Does Race/Ethnicity Matter? 4 Affirmative Action 5 Immigration 6 Bilingual Instruction 7 Standardized Tests for Graduation 7 Role ofGovernment 8 Confidence in Social Institutions 9 Political Participation and Citizenship 10 Nativity and Citizenship by Race 10 Voter Registration and Turnout 11 Partisan Identification and Ideology 11 Appendix: Poll Questionnaire About the Poll Under the auspices ofthe John W. McCormack Institute ofPublic Affairs, the University of Massachusetts has regularly conducted polls to measure attitudes and behavior related to the political, economic, and social life ofthe Commonwealth. Data from these polls have offered important and regular insights about the views ofMassachusetts' residents. One ofthe drawbacks ofthese polls and most others conducted by or for news media outlets, academicians, politicians, and candidates is that they have not been able to generate significantly large samples ofnon-whites (African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latinos) to assess with any depth their opinions and behavior. Typically, for example, a poll with a randomly selected sample of450-500 respondents includes 50 to 60 nonwhites. In order to offer amore detailed look at the attitudes and behavior of these residents, the UMass McCormack Institute Poll was expanded to include over 300 non- whites with over 100 African Americans (N=127), Asian Americans (N=l 14), and Latinos (N=107) as well as whites (N=381). The poll, which was conducted April 13-23, was designed and analyzed in collaboration with the Institute for Asian American Studies, the Mauricio Gaston Institute, and the William Monroe Trotter Institute all at the University ofMassachusetts Boston. Racial and Ethnic Diversity: A Good Thing? The rapidly changing racial and ethnic diversity ofMassachusetts was regarded as a "good thing" by large proportions ofall groups (67% Asian Americans, 58% African Americans, 49% Latinos, 47% whites). Smaller percentages (6% Asian Americans, 12% African Americans, 12% Latinos, 1 1% whites) characterized the increasing racial and ethnic diversity as a "bad thing." Racial/Ethnic Diversity: A Good Thing? I 80 Z 60 i I 40 .« 20 1 0 CO African Latino Asian White American American Good Bad Nodiff DK/NS thing thing African 58 12 24 6 American Latino 49 12 25 14 Asian 67 6 23 4 American White 47 11 35 Are Conditions for Minority Groups Better or Worse? In their assessments ofthe condition ofminority groups over the last five years, there were some significant differences among the racial groups. For example, while 50% ofwhites said that conditions for minority groups had "gotten better," fewer non-whites agreed with this assessment (29% African Americans, 40% Asian Americans, 43% Latinos). Additionally, over two-thirds of African Americans (68%) and 46% ofAsian Americans and 44% ofLatinos said that conditions had "stayed the same" or "gotten worse." For whites, 38% feltthat conditions had stayed the same or gotten worse. Latino African American 13% 29% 43% 48% Better 33% Worse 20% 11% Stayed the Same j DK/No Opinion White Asian American Assessments ofMinority Groups' Chances: A Long Way to Go When asked to agree or disagree with the statement that "African Americans are still a long way from having the same chance in life than white people have," nearly two-thirds ofAfrican Americans (63%) and over African Americans are still a long wayfrom one-halfofAsian having the same chance in life as white people Americans (54%) and Latinos (53%) said they 80 agreed with the statement. 4i_) 60 Over one-third ofwhites nO) O 40 (37%) said they agreed. 20 0 African Latinos Asian Whites Americans Americans Digitized by the Internet Archive 2015 in https://archive.org/details/conflictconvergeOOjohn
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