THE TIMES POLL : Black, White Americans Split Over Anti-Bias Laws

At the core of the public debate about affirmative action programs is a fissure between black and white Americans over whether the nation has lived up to the promise of equal opportunity embodied in the laws that struck down segregation more than a quarter of a century ago.

A recent Los Angeles Times survey--reinforced by findings of several other polls--suggests that deep disagreements remain between white and black Americans over the question of whether minorities need more legal protection against discrimination.

On one level, The Times Poll, which surveyed 1,623 adults from Sept. 21 to Sept. 25, provides evidence that, in the interactions of daily life, all races see the walls of separation eroding, although not disintegrating. Three-fourths of both blacks and whites and over four-fifths of Latinos said in the survey that they have a close friend of a different race.

And, although almost four-fifths of whites say they live in a neighborhood with few minority members, half of blacks and almost three-fifths of Latinos describe their neighborhoods as “mostly white” or an “even mix.” For both Latinos and blacks, those figures represent an increase from the percentages of those who say they lived in integrated neighborhoods as a child.

But whites and minorities differ markedly on whether greater opportunity has accompanied greater interaction. By a ratio of roughly 3 to 2, white respondents in the survey said blacks today had “good” opportunities for “housing, education, job opportunities and social acceptance by whites.” Similarly, 60% of whites said blacks had an equal or better chance than whites to get good jobs and education.

Most blacks, though, believe their opportunities remain crimped. Three-fourths of blacks describe their opportunities as “not very good” or “poor”--with fully one-third taking the most negative view. Two-thirds of blacks believe they have fewer opportunities than whites for jobs, housing and education. Similarly, almost three-fifths of Latinos believe they are afforded fewer opportunities than whites.

Most whites--although acknowledging the persistence of prejudice--tend to minimize its role in the problems afflicting the black community. That’s one reason why whites generally see less need for new legal measures to provide minorities with special assistance. But blacks, and to a somewhat lesser extent, Latinos, still see discrimination as a barrier in American society that demands further attack.

For example, whites, by 60% to 33%, reject the idea that discrimination is the principal reason blacks “on the average . . . have worse jobs, income and housing than white people.” Blacks take the opposite view: By 65% to 30%, blacks said the differences were “mainly due to discrimination.”

As on many questions assessing the level of prejudice faced by blacks, Latinos fell roughly halfway between the two other races, splitting evenly on the issue, 47% to 47%.

Roughly four out of five whites, blacks and Latinos reject the proposition that blacks trail economically because they have “less inborn ability to learn.” Majorities of each race--rising from 53% of Latinos to 62% of whites to 73% of blacks--believe a key reason for the differences is that most blacks lack educational opportunities.

But the races diverge again--though less vigorously than might be expected--when asked if blacks lack “the motivation or willpower to pull themselves up out of poverty.” Whites agreed with that sharply worded statement by a margin of 50% to 40%, as did Latinos, by 51% to 37%. Blacks, though, rejected it by a 54%-41% margin. Just one-fifth of whites and Latinos, as compared to nearly one-third of blacks, viewed blacks as the group that “is working hardest to succeed these days in America.”

For whites, these harsh views are tempered by an awareness that discrimination endures. Three-fifths of whites say that the United States is not close to “eliminating discrimination against blacks . . . once and for all.” Three-fourths of blacks and two-thirds of Latinos agree.

Similarly, 45% of whites said they viewed blacks as the group that suffers the most discrimination in this country, far more than chose Latinos, Asians or any other minority. Among Latinos, 56% saw blacks as facing the most prejudice--more than double the 23% that named themselves as the group most discriminated against. More than 70% of blacks say they are the group facing the most prejudice.

Moreover, a surprisingly large 44% minority of whites agrees with the statement that “no matter who they are, every white American must bear some responsibility for correcting the wrongs done to black Americans over the years.” Forty-nine percent of whites disagree. Only 51% of blacks agree; 47% disagree.

Still, just 24% of whites believe government is paying too little attention to the problems of minorities. That compares with 28% who believe it is paying too much attention and 41% who say it is devoting the right amount of energy to such concerns. Whites split in almost exactly the same proportions on affirmative action programs, with 21% saying they haven’t gone far enough, 28% believing them excessive and 39% calling them adequate now.

By contrast, three-fourths of blacks believe government is paying insufficient attention to the problems of minorities, and three-fifths say affirmative action hasn’t gone far enough. Latinos, again, fall between whites and blacks, with just 44% believing affirmative action hasn’t been pressed vigorously enough.

Polls by Louis Harris and others have shown that voters don’t hold clear pictures in their minds of what affirmative action entails. But numerous surveys have indicated that whites and blacks do hold strong--and discordant--opinions on what kind of special assistance for minorities is appropriate.

Blacks, whites and Latinos all hold generally favorable opinions toward affirmative action when it is broadly defined as “programs designed to help minorities get better jobs and education.”

In The Times Poll, half of whites, and almost three-fourths of both blacks and Latinos, said they favor such programs; just one-fifth of whites said they oppose them. By 41% to 14%, whites said such programs helped minorities rather than hurt them, a figure not that different from the 49%-8% reply among blacks or the 46%-13% finding among Latinos.

But the survey underscores considerable concern among whites about whether these programs “designed to help minorities” create a new kind of inequality. Although only one out of seven whites says he or she has ever suffered reverse discrimination, one-third of whites say affirmative action programs often deprive “someone else of their rights.” Just one-fifth of blacks and Latinos express that concern.

This anxiety among whites about affirmative action hardens into solid opposition toward programs that give minorities preference in employment or college admissions or that create minority quotas. Among whites, the defining line in public opinion is between programs that help minorities better compete on the same standards applied to whites and those that relax standards to grant minorities preference in hiring or admissions.

If anything, opposition among whites to policies of preference may be hardening. In a September New York Times/CBS survey, whites by a commanding 67%-14% margin rejected the proposition that in cases “where there has been job discrimination against blacks in the past, preference in hiring should be given to blacks today.” In May, 1985, whites split much more narrowly on such programs, rejecting them by just 51% to 37%. Blacks, meanwhile, split narrowly in favor of preferential hiring as an appropriate means of compensating for prior discrimination.

Even though the Democratic Congress and President Bush appear to have reached a truce on the civil rights legislation that the President previously vetoed as a “quota bill,” such disparate views between the races virtually guarantee further political conflict over affirmative action.

Although polls suggest some grounds for consensus around programs designed to expand opportunities but not guarantee results, they also indicate that on these polarizing issues, black and white America remain very much two societies--separate, unequal and wary.

HOW THE POLL WAS CONDUCTED

The Times Poll interviewed 1,623 adult Americans nationwide, by telephone, Sept. 21 to Sept. 25. Telephone numbers were chosen from a list which includes all telephone exchanges in the United States. Random-digit dialing techniques were used to ensure that both listed and unlisted telephone numbers had an opportunity to be contacted. Oversampling of blacks and Latinos provided larger-sized subsamples for analysis, which were weighted to their proper proportions in the nationwide sample. Results were adjusted slightly to conform with census figures on variables such as sex, race and national origin, age, education and household size. The margin of sampling error for percentages based on the total sample is plus or minus 3 percentage points. For certain subgroups, the error margin is somewhat higher.

The Times Poll: Affirmative Action

Whites Age Do you: Whites Blacks Latinos 18-39 Favor affirmative 50% 74% 72% 51% action for minorities? Oppose affirmative action? 22 6 10 21 Think affirmative action 28 4 10 28 goes too far? Think it doesn’t go far enough? 21 60 44 23 Think it is often unfair to others? 33 22 20 32 Think it is seldom unfair? 57 72 69 63 Have you: Personally been discriminated against 21% 51% 43% 1% in job/education? Received job/educational chance 4 20 22 4 because of affirmative action? Experienced “reverse 14 16 13 15 discrimination”? Got an affirmative action 35 36 31 41 program at work/school?

Blacks Age Do you: 19-39 Favor affirmative 70% action for minorities? Oppose affirmative action? 5 Think affirmative action 4 goes too far? Think it doesn’t go far enough? 55 Think it is often unfair to others? 26 Think it is seldom unfair? 68 Have you: Personally been discriminated against 48% in job/education? Received job/educational chance 20 because of affirmative action? Experienced “reverse 17 discrimination”? Got an affirmative action 42 program at work/school?