FC: Poll says voters want racial privacy, nix race info on census form

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

*********

> From: "Kevin Nguyen" <kn () sna com>
> To: "Kevin Nguyen" <kn () sna com>
> Subject: Fw: Poll Indicates 4 in 5 Voters Want Racial Privacy
> Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2000 13:06:06 -0700
>
> Embargoed For Release
>
> Friday, April 28, 2000
>
> Contact: Royce Van Tassell
>
> (916) 444-2278
>
> POLL INDICATES 4 IN 5 VOTERS WANT RACIAL PRIVACY
>
> SACRAMENTO A survey released today by the American Civil Rights Institute 
> (ACRI) indicates that an overwhelming majority of Americans want to 
> reclaim their racial privacy. The poll, conducted by Zogby International, 
> showed strong, broad-based support for eliminating the race question on 
> government forms.
>
> "Americans are tired of these silly little boxes," said Ward Connerly, 
> Chairman of ACRI. "They want to put an end to America s long affair with 
> racial classifications."
>
> A few of the polls findings include:
>
> --Nearly 4 in 5 voters (77 %) want the government to completely dispense 
> with race boxes on government forms. Similar levels of support came from 
> Democrats (71.7 %) and Republicans (79.5 %). Along racial and ethnic 
> lines, black (64.6 %), Asian (81.9 %) and multiracial (78.1 %) people 
> expressed the strongest support. A strong majority of Hispanic people (59 
> %) supported getting rid of the boxes.
>
> -- Even when told that getting rid of these boxes may prevent authorities 
> from identifying some discrimination, a majority (58 %) of American voters 
> want to get rid of the race boxes on government forms. This level of 
> support is common to Democrats (54.0 %) and Republicans (61.5 %), as well 
> as to Hispanic (58.6 %) and black (58.9 %) people. Asian (68.6 %) and 
> multiracial (70.0 %) people showed the strongest support.
>
> --An overwhelming majority of Americans (91.2 %) oppose having the 
> government decide what race a person is, if the person declines to 
> volunteer that information. Republican, Democrat and Independent voters 
> all voiced strong support for this position (88.1%, 92.8 % and 93.8 % 
> respectively). This support was also uniform among the black (89.3 %), 
> Hispanic (86.2 %), Asian (100 %) and Multiracial (93.8 %) populations. 
> This issue has pertinence, for example, in current efforts by the U.S. 
> Census to guess the race of Americans who either leave the race boxes 
> unmarked or put "American," "human" or some other nonracial response.
>
> --The American public no longer believes in the "One Drop" rule for 
> deciding who is black. When asked what race the child of one black parent 
> and one white parent, more than 5 in 6 answered "multiracial." The "One 
> Drop" rule is a remnant of the days of slavery and Jim Crow laws.
>
> The survey of 1014 registered voters was conducted February 27 through 
> March 7. The margin of error is +/- 3.2 percent. The report published by 
> Zogby International contains a list of questions and results, and may be 
> obtained by calling 916/444-2278.
>
> ACRI Chairman Ward Connerly, who is traveling and in Washington, DC, is 
> available for interviews Thursday afternoon and Friday. Please call Kevin 
> Nguyen at 916/444-2278 to arrange an interview.
>
> Based in Sacramento, ACRI is a nonprofit research and educational 
> organization working to inform the public about issues relating to racial 
> classifications, and racial and gender preferences.
>
> ###

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