Chris Kromm> Or maybe head out to California, where immigrants are held in such held in loving regard.
By this poll, public atitudes while still less than desired as always, are geting more amicable, on a purely personal level.
Michael Pugliese, wondering why he's trying to find a silver lining...
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State's Diversity Becoming Its Strength, Survey Shows
Racial, ethnic groups say they get along
Carol Ness, Chronicle Staff Writer Thursday, January 4, 2001
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The rapid diversification of California's population, rather than breeding divisiveness, is generating extraordinary unity across racial lines, according to a new survey.
Most Californians -- at least 80 percent of whites, Latinos, Asian Americans and blacks -- think people are getting along just fine, the Public Policy Institute of California survey released today shows.
A majority of each group -- ranging from 57 percent for whites to 62 percent for Asians -- think California's shift to majority-minority status has meant no difference for their region, and another 19 to 33 percent think the change has been a good thing, the survey shows. Only 20 percent overall found it a negative.
All four major population groups identified the same issues as most crucial:
education, crime and the economy. And they agreed on some solutions, such as spending more money on schools.
Clear differences emerged, however, around race- or ethnicity-based issues such as affirmative action, bilingual education and immigration.
The survey also identified profound differences in political participation, with Latinos and Asians lagging far behind whites and blacks.
And Latinos, the state's fastest-growing population, also are finding themselves deep on the downside of California's economic and digital divides, having the lowest incomes and least access to computers.
"I was surprised at the extent to which there is agreement on where we are right now as a state, the issues that we need to deal with as we look to the future and the extent to which people are aware of the change that's under way, " said Mark Baldassare, co-author of the survey and senior fellow of the San Francisco-based nonprofit institute.
"Clearly the results also indicate that we have a lot of work to do," he added.
The survey results are based on interviews that took place from April 1998 through May 2000 with 20,116 Californians. The survey is continuing.
The current results measure feelings as California crossed the cusp to a majority-minority status this year. By 2040, two-thirds of the state's population will be Latino, Asian or black, according to state projections.
The positive feelings of the late '90s follow a series of divisive, race- based initiative battles over affirmative action, bilingual education and illegal immigration.
Baldassare said California's economic good times explain residents' current good mood. It could vanish if the economy goes bad, he said.
"That's why I think it's really important to take advantage of these times and have a dialogue about areas where there tends to be broad agreement about what we ought to be working on," he said. California's leaders have an unprecedented opportunity to "set a tone that resonates with all groups," he added.
Because the survey was so broad, analysts were able to break the data down and identify where race is a factor in California -- and where it is not.
When it comes to dealing with affirmative action, for instance, the racial disagreement is stark. Only 27 percent of whites want it continued, compared with 49 percent of Asians, 66 percent of Latinos and 78 percent of blacks.
In many instances, the results concluded, class and economic status determine differences more than race. Well-educated, wealthy homeowners are more apt to be positive about the current state of race relations than the poor, unemployed and renters.
The survey also shows that attitudes of U.S.-born Latinos and Asian Americans are closer to those of whites than to those of immigrants.
On public policy issues, the survey found more similarities than differences of opinion among the four major racial and ethnic groups. Education is No. 1 for about one-fourth of each group and crime second for 10 to 20 percent of each. Immigration and the environment trail in single digits.
And at least two-thirds of all groups agree school spending is falling short.
The findings also provide clues to the state's political future.
Eighty percent surveyed said they are registered to vote and about half said they always vote.
But where 87 percent of whites and 84 percent of blacks said they are registered, the numbers fell to 65 percent for Asians and 62 percent for Latinos. Similarly, blacks and whites said they vote far more often than Latinos and Asians.
Latinos and blacks are registering more as Democrats. Asians, also a burgeoning population, are leaning Democratic. And whites, whose proportion of the population is dropping, are slightly more Republican.
"If the growing Latino population continues to register overwhelmingly as Democrats, California could take on the character of a one-party state," Baldassare said.
Latinos and blacks, meanwhile, are being left behind economically. Among Latinos, 32 percent earn less than $20,000 a year, compared to 26 percent for blacks, 14 percent for Asians and 13 percent for whites. And a further gap divides new Latino immigrants from those born here.
California's digital divide also is leaving Latinos behind. Less than two- thirds use a computer, compared with 78 percent of whites and 91 percent of Asians. The gap widens when it comes to Internet use, with only 39 percent of Latinos on board, compared with 61 percent of blacks, 66 percent of whites and 81 percent of Asians.
E-mail Carol Ness at cness at sfchronicle.com.
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Attitudes in California'' by the Public Policy Institute of California, a nonprofit group in San Francisco. More than 20,000 adult residents were interviewed from April 1998 through May 2000. The margin of error is plus or minus 1 percentage point for the entire sample, 2 percentage points for Latinos, and 3.5 percentage points for Asians and blacks.
1970 1998 2040 White 78% 51% 31% Hispanic 12 23 48 Asian American 3 18 16 Black 7 7 5 American Indian <1 1 1 . Perceptions of Race and Ethnic Relations Overall, how would you say that the racial and ethnic groups in your region are getting along these days -- very well, somewhat well, somewhat badly, or very badly?
All Adults White Latino Asian Black Very well 22% 23% 18% 26% 25% Somewhat well 59 58 63 60 55 Somewhat badly 14 15 13 10 13 Very badly 5 4 6 4 7 . Impact of racial and ethnic change Which of these two views is closest to yours? (a) immigrants today are a benefit to California because of their hard work and job skills. (b) immigrants today are a burden to California because they use public services.
All Adults White Latino Asian Black Benefit 57% 47% 78% 71% 55% Burden 43 53 22 29 45 . Chronicle Graphic Source: The Public Policy Institute of California EC:
©2001 San Francisco Chronicle
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