Poll: Young people’s fear of white extremism varies by race

Gregg Higgins, 27, was one of the whites who said he was very worried about violence by extremists in his own race. In fact, he said he was more concerned about “the homegrown white extremists” than the threat of violence from people outside the United States or people inspired by foreign extremists.

A social worker in Pittsburgh, Higgins said the growing political tension during the current election cycle has “shown a really ugly part of our past coming through and being more heard.” He described it as “white males who are angry and who aren’t now afraid to show that anger.”

“That fear of loss of control and loss of privilege is what’s inspiring this vitriol and this hate,” Higgins said.

Worry about attacks from people currently living in the U.S. who are motivated by foreign extremists spreads more evenly across racial groups, with at least half of whites, blacks, Asians and Hispanics describing themselves as very concerned about that threat.

Violence committed by people from outside the country also caused unease, especially among Hispanic young adults. Fifty-six per cent of Hispanics polled said they were very concerned, compared to 49 per cent of African-Americans, 40 per cent of Asian-Americans and 41 per cent of whites.

The angst comes after a spate of mass shootings. Nine black people were shot and killed last year at a church in Charleston, South Carolina, by a white man who officials say talked of starting a race war. In June, a gunman born in the U.S. to Afghan immigrants opened fire in a crowded gay dance club in Orlando, Florida, killing 49 people in the worst mass shooting in U.S. history. An autopsy report identified him as a white male.

Last month, five police officers in Dallas were killed by a black gunman during a protest against police shootings of black men, and three law enforcement officers in Baton Rouge were shot and killed by a black man who authorities said appeared to be targeting people wearing a badge.

Darsi Vazquez, a 25-year-old Hispanic college student from Huntsville, Alabama, described herself as very concerned about the threat of violence from foreign and domestic extremists alike, but she thinks the fear is exacerbated by news coverage of mass shootings around the country and the types of overt racism that appear in social media.

“A few years back technology wasn’t where it’s at it now, so you couldn’t see things like this happening like you see it now,” Vazquez said. “I don’t know if it’s necessarily getting worse, but we’re seeing it more now. We don’t just see what’s happening outside our window, we also see what’s going on outside other people’s window.”

Most young adults in the poll labeled as hate crimes both the shooting deaths at the Charleston church and the Orlando night club, against African-Americans and against LGBT people, respectively.

But the poll shows people view the Orlando shooting differently, depending on their race.

Among young whites, most also described the Orlando shooting as a terrorist attack. Fifty-eight per cent of whites considered it that, compared to only 32 per cent of African-Americans, 40 per cent of Hispanics and 44 per cent of Asian-Americans. Gunman Omar Mateen pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group during a call with police dispatchers during a standoff before he was shot and killed.

A third or less of young people of each racial and ethnic group called the Charleston attack terrorism.

Terrorism concerns have young Americans across racial groups largely in agreement that some rights and freedoms should be sacrificed in efforts to prevent an attack. Eleven per cent of all young adults polled said they believe such sacrifices are always necessary, while 54 per cent said they’re at least sometimes necessary.

But most young people said Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s calls to temporarily ban Muslims from coming to the U.S. goes too far.

More than two-thirds of those surveyed said they oppose a temporary prohibition on any Muslim who isn’t a U.S. citizen from entering the country: 64 per cent of whites, 66 per cent of Hispanics and 79 per cent of African-Americans and Asian-Americans.

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The poll of 1,940 adults age 18-30 was conducted July 9-20 using a sample drawn from the probability-based GenForward panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. young adult population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.

The survey was paid for by the Black Youth Project at the University of Chicago using grants from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Ford Foundation.

Respondents were first selected randomly using address-based sampling methods, and later interviewed online or by phone.

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Online:

GenForward polls: http://www.genforwardsurvey.com/

Black Youth Project: http://blackyouthproject.com/

AP-NORC: http://www.apnorc.org/

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Follow Melinda Deslatte at http://twitter.com/melindadeslatte

Melinda Deslatte, The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

Poll: Young people’s fear of white extremism varies by race

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