Who supports making Inter-racial marriage illegal?

[DKStories]

http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/pdf/PPP..._MS_0407915.pdf

I saw a diary on Daily Kos about the PP poll that is linked above. The poll was taken of 400 Mississippi Republicans and covered mostly possible presidential candidates, but they also included a question on interracial marriages. It really comes as no surprise, in my opinion, that 46% of those polled think interracial marrige should be illegal while 40% think it should be legal. A plurality of opposition to marriage between races should come as no surprise in this state.

What was a little surprising was when I looked at the crosstabs, specifically those on the very last page of the document. This cross-tab shows support/opposition to inter-racial marriage by age group of respondents. Conventional wisdom has long held that younger people are more accepting than older people, but apparently that may not be true in Mississippi. Just looking at the "Illegal" answer to the question of interracial marriage, we see the following:

Age: 18-29 30-45 46-65 65+

Illegal: 54% 38% 39% 56%

Notice that it is the oldest and the youngest categories that have the highest level of racist opinion on interracial marriage. Now, one question that comes immediately to mind is: Does this poll reflect that older and younger categories are just being more honest? If the differences between the age groups isn't due to more honesty in the older/younger groups, what other things might cause a higher percentage of racism in the youngest generation of Mississippi Republicans?

Oh, and one more thing: How do Mississippi Democrats break down in response to this question? I'd love to see a poll with that question asked amidst the age brackets.

[Lugnutz]

I wonder if they're just focusing on black/white marriages or is any other race up for grabs. Figuring it's Mississippi would give a idea how this question came about.

Me, I don't care about the race of the people.

[DKStories]

As the gay community struggles to move forward with same-sex marriage, this poll shows how even 50+ years later, there are places in this country that oppose interracial marriage. It's why I would like to see a similar survey done of Democrats in that state. Is it a regional issue, or is it a political issue? Possibly a convergence of political and regional?

Racism can be found anywhere, and in any community. This survey raises some interesting questions though, questions that would be interesting to have answered. It also corresponds with the 2008 Presidential vote where we had the child of an interracial marriage running for office. A lot of interesting factors, a lot of interesting questions, and not a lot of answers.

[Lugnutz]

This should sum it up.

[colinian]

I agree with Lugz... I don't care what a person's race or ethnicity is. My partner Doug is Chinese. I have friends of many races and ethnicities. What difference does it make? None. It's what the person is all about that counts.

Colin

[JamesSavik]

Election year bullshit. Anytime a hyper-liberal group sees a conservative as a threat, they preemptively shit on them regardless of whether there is any truth to it or not.

I've got my own reasons for hating Barbour's guts but the last thing the man is, is a racist.

In fact, I don't think there is a black ass in the state he hasn't kissed at least a dozen times.

What has not been reported is that Barbour has an exceptional record on race. During his term as governor, Barbour has brought the states traditionally black universities into compliance with the Ayers decision, created a new civil rights era museum, dealt with two major disasters and has managed to balance the budget.

Contrast that with Obama's record of wasted opportunities, record deficits and aimless blundering.

No wonder they are desperate.

Barbour's many years of disaster recovery experience is just what we need to clean up after Barry O'bumble's mess.

[DKStories]

So Haley Barbour falls in the percentage of republicans who don't support making interracial marriage illegal? Probably, most likely. That's the main reason it was not me who brought up any single politician. I want to see a similar poll on Democrats to see if this viewpoint is common across political spectrums, not turn this into a screed against politicians I do not like, or a rah-rah chant for politicians that I do like.

If I did, I'd be complimenting Republicans on figuring out how to walk and chew gum at the same time. They've managed to take away the rights of workers, gays, and women all at the same time. Kansas Republicans insist on keeping sodomy laws on the books, acknowledging they can't be enforced because of Lawrence v Texas, but they still want them on the book. Could we now see efforts to put laws back on the books to make interracial marriage illegal?

Finding out that a pluarlity of ANY group supporting racist beliefs such as those against interracial marriage should be very disturbing for gay people. It's something to think about, consider, and weight when making political decisions. It's also something that I would want to see if it crosses party lines. That's where the real danger lies. If you get 46% of Republicans and 40% of Democrats agreeing on something, you've got problems when those are all the people who get elected.

Racism doesn't necessarily know political boundaries. One party may be more tolerant of racism than the other, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist everywhere. Just look at the gay community itself. Far too common we see racism among the members of our own community. It may be more focused on arabs and muslims these days rather than asian as it was when I was younger, but it's still there and its still pervasive.

This one poll leaves a lot to be desired, but it's an interesting peek into things that are very uncomfortable to think about.