Poll: Racial Groups View Each Other With Mistrust
By Michelle J. Nealy
America, the proverbial melting pot, is boiling over with racial tension. A new poll, “Deep Divisions, Shared Destiny,” by New America Media, the nation’s largest collaboration of ethnic news media, reveals some unflattering realities concerning the ways in which America’s largest ethnic groups view each other. The poll uncovers the deep-seated mistrust some minorities have for one another and defines several stereotypes perpetuated by both ethnic and mainstream media sources.
In addition to identifying the unique strains of intentional isolation among Black, Hispanic and Asian American respondents, the survey also illuminates the desire expressed by all three groups to work collaboratively to build safer and stronger communities.
According to the poll of approximately 1,105 Black, Hispanic and Asian American adults, the friction between the three racial groups stems from the concurrent mistrust that these groups harbor toward each other. For instance, nearly half the Asian and Hispanic Americans surveyed were “generally afraid of African-Americans because they are responsible for most crime.”
Meanwhile, 46 percent of Hispanics and 52 percent of Blacks believe “most Asian business owners do not treat them with respect.” Moreover, half the African-Americans polled felt threatened by Hispanic immigrants, whom they felt “were taking jobs, housing and political power away from the Black community.”
“When asked about these stereotypes that are unfair, incorrect and misleading, we found significant percentages of the three groups agreeing with these statements. Belief in these erroneous stereotypes is an important component of tension and should be of great concern,” says Sergio Bendixen, an expert on Hispanic and multilingual polling who conducted the study on behalf of NAM.
Hispanics and Asians expressed far greater optimism about their lives in America and the country’s core values such as equal opportunity and equal rights. These groups concluded that hard work is rewarded in this society. By contrast, more than 60 percent of the African-Americans polled did not believe that the American dream was applicable to them.
