March 17, 2016

Fusion 2016 Issues Poll: Racial Attitudes

Young adults in a new Fusion 2016 Issues poll tilt slightly in favor of a federal apology for
slavery but broadly oppose monetary reparations for past racial discrimination. Most also think
people judge Barack Obama more harshly because hes black and more pick Bernie Sanders
than Hillary Clinton as likeliest to appoint minorities to positions of power.
Fusions latest random-sample national telephone survey of 1,045 18- to 35-year-olds, focused
on racial issues, finds differences within racial and ethnic groups in most of these views, marking
the extent to which such divisions extend to the younger generation of American adults.
Ninety percent of young blacks, for example, think Obama is judged differently as president
because of his race; that perception declines to 65 percent of whites and 55 percent of young
Hispanics, totaling 67 percent overall. That said, among those who do think Obama is treated
differently, very large majorities across these groups 82 to 92 percent say people go harder on
him, not easier, because of his race.

All
Blacks
Whites
Hispanics

Obama judged by his race?

Harder
Easier
Not a factor
55%
6
31
82
7
8
53
7
33
47
5
43

In another split, 68 percent of young blacks and 59 percent of Hispanics favor a federal
apology to black Americans for the slavery that once existed in this country, while many fewer
young whites, 41 percent, agree. That nets to 50 percent support, with 44 percent opposed.
Theres greater opposition to reparations that is, cash payments from the federal government to
black Americans as a way to compensate them for slavery and other past discrimination. Young
adults overall oppose the idea by a wide margin, 62-32 percent. While 62 percent of blacks are in
favor, that falls to 40 percent of Hispanics and just 21 percent of whites age 18-35.

All
Blacks
Hispanics
Whites

% support
Apology for slavery
50%
68
59
41

Reparations
32%
62
40
21

It should be noted that millennials who account for nearly a third of all adults are the most
diverse adult generation in U.S. history. Just 56 percent are white, while 21 percent are Hispanic
and blacks account for 13 percent, with 10 percent other or mixed. Indeed the youngest
millennials, those age 18-21, are majority minority 48 percent white, 52 percent nonwhite.
Given their greater diversity, support for reparations among young adults is higher than it was
among all adults 18 percent in a similar survey question in August in a Kaiser Family
Foundation/CNN poll. In an ABC News/Washington Post poll 15 years ago, 42 percent of all
adults supported a federal apology for slavery, vs. 50 percent of young adults in this poll.
Among other results:

Young Americans say the economy has fared much better than race relations during
Obamas presidency. Fifty-four percent overall say the economy has improved, while half
as many, 27 percent, say race relations have gotten better. Indeed more say relations have
worsened than improved, by a 12-point margin, while more say the economy has
improved than gotten worse, by 33 points. Negativity on race relations under Obama
peaks, also by a wide margin, among young whites.

That said, Obamas not generally held to account for the conditions of race relations;
among those who say theyve worsened, more than half say that would have happened
regardless of whether he was president an indication, perhaps, of the intractable nature
of the issue. Substantially fewer think the economy would have gotten better (or worse)
regardless of Obamas efforts.

As noted, among all presidential candidates, more young adults pick Sanders than any
other to appoint minorities to influential positions Sanders, 35 percent; Clinton, 22
percent, with Republican candidates in the single digits (and a substantial 26 percent
withholding judgment). Many of those with an opinion, moreover, see this as a strong
reason, in and of itself, to support a given candidate especially Sanders supporters.

Again there are racial differences in views of the candidates. Young whites and Hispanics pick
Sanders over Clinton by similar margins as more likely to appoint blacks, Hispanics and other
minorities to important positions in government. Young blacks, instead, divide evenly between
the two candidates, with 38 percent citing Sanders, 37 percent Clinton a result reflecting
Clintons generally broad popularity among blacks. (Sanders, for his part, is particularly popular
overall with young adults.)
More likely to appoint minorities
to important positions
Sanders
Clinton
Diff.
All
35%
22
+13
Blacks
38
37
+1
Hispanics
34
21
+13
Whites
34
20
+14

Regardless of whom they pick, majorities of young adults across racial and ethnic groups with an
opinion on this question see it as a strong reason to support that candidate but to a different
extent. Seventy-four percent of blacks say its a strong reason, as do 66 percent of Hispanics; that
declines to 54 percent of young whites.
Is the appointment of minorities to important positions
a strong reason to support a presidential candidate?
(among those who pick a candidate as best on this issue)
Strong reason
Not strong reason
All
60%
37
Blacks
74
25
Hispanics
66
30
Whites
54
44

Just among those who say Sanders would be most likely to appoint minorities, 69 percent also
say this is a strong reason to support him. Among those who pick Clinton, somewhat fewer see
this is a strong reason to support her, 58 percent. Among those who pick any Republican
candidate, fewer, 45 percent, see this as a strong reason to support that candidate.
Obama
Perhaps unsurprisingly, racial differences among young adults extend to perceptions of Obamas
performance in office. Eighty-one percent of young blacks say the economy has improved under
his presidency; just 47 percent of young whites agree (as do 57 percent of Hispanics). That totals
54 percent overall.
When theres room for interpretation on economic conditions (as opposed to their being
unambiguously good or bad), political predispositions often carry more weight. And certainly
theres such room on the economy today; while just more than half of young adults say its
improved under Obama, just two in 10 say its gotten much better; the rest, somewhat.
Young blacks also rate Obama better on race relations, but these results are far less positive
across the board. Thirty-nine percent of young blacks say race relations have improved under
Obama, compared with 28 percent who say theyve worsened (with the rest saying theyve
stayed the same) an 11-point net positive score. That compares with a split decision among
Hispanics, while young whites rate the change in race relations under Obama negatively by a 26point margin, 21 percent better, 47 percent worse.

All
Blacks
Hispanics
Whites

Race relations under Obama

Better
Worse
Same
27%
39
30
39
28
31
31
28
38
21
47
28

Credit/blame
Young adults assign substantial responsibility to Obama for economic conditions. Among those
who say the economy has improved during his presidency, 81 percent say hes at least partially
3

responsible for that. Among those who say its worsened, fewer, 62 percent say hes wholly or
partly responsible.
Among those who say race relations have improved, 72 percent say Obama should receive at
least partial credit. But theres a sharp difference among those who say race relations have
worsened on this, fewer, 44 percent, say Obama deserves all or some of the blame. More than
half across racial groups dont blame Obama for worsening race relations.
Group differences
In addition to racial gaps, there are sharp differences between partisan and ideological groups on
many of these questions, demonstrating that the nations political divisions are highly prominent
among young adults as well as their elders.
For instance, 61 percent of young adults who identify themselves as Democrats support a federal
apology for slavery, compared with 51 percent of independents and 31 percent of Republicans.
Support ranges from a high of 66 percent among very liberal young adults to a low of 27
percent among young conservative Republicans. Theres also a notable gender gap on this issue:
Fifty-nine percent of women favor an apology, vs. 41 percent of men.
While support for reparations is lower, political and ideological divisions again are present.
Support peaks at 49 percent of strong liberals, and its 40 percent among Democrats, vs. 14
percent among young Republicans.
Young adults generally are more liberal and independent and less conservative or Republican
than older Americans. Overall 45 percent of young adults in this survey identify themselves as
political independents, 31 percent as Democrats and 19 percent as Republicans compared to a
32-33-27 percent breakdown among older adults in a recent ABC News/Washington Post poll.
The liberal-moderate-conservative breakdown is 36-29-30 percent for young adults, vs. 22-35-41
percent in recent polling among adults older than 35.
Naturally, Obama gets much worse ratings from young Republicans and conservatives than from
Democrats and liberals for his handling of the economy and race relations alike. And in terms of
selecting his replacement, theres a wide range of attitudes on whether its important to pick a
candidate whos most likely to appoint minorities to important positions. At the peak, 80 percent
of strongly liberal young Americans call this a strong reason to support a candidate. Just 31
percent of young conservative Republicans agree.
METHODOLOGY This Fusion 2016 Issues Poll was conducted by landline and cell phone
interviews March 2-15, 2016, among a random national sample of 1,045 adults age 18 to 35.
Results have a margin of sampling error of 3.5 points for the full sample, including the surveys
design effect. The margin of sampling error is 4.5 points for the 530 whites surveyed, 7.0 points
for the 225 Hispanics and 9.0 points for the 135 blacks.

This survey was produced for Fusion by Langer Research Associates of New York, N.Y., with
sampling, data collection and tabulation by SSRS/Social Science Research Solutions of Media,
Pa. See methodological details here.
Full results follow.
* in data columns = less than 0.5 percent
1. Thinking about the current candidates for president, who in your opinion would be
most likely to appoint blacks, Hispanics, and other minorities to important positions?
Carson
3
5
2
2
1

All
Whites
Nonwhites (NET)
Blacks
Hispanics

Sanders
35
34
36
38
34

Trump
5
6
3
1
2

Clinton
22
20
26
37
21

Kasich
*
1
*
0
*

Rubio
5
5
5
1
8

Cruz
4
4
4
1
6

No opinion
26
26
25
21
27

2. [IF CANDIDATE NAMED IN Q1] In and of itself, do you think that is a strong reason
to support [INSERT RESPONSE FROM Q1] for president, or not a strong reason?
Strong reason
60
54
69
74
66

Not strong reason

37
44
28
25
30

All
Whites
Nonwhites (NET)
Blacks
Hispanics

No opinion
2
2
3
1
4

3. For each item I name, please tell me whether you think its gotten better, gotten
worse, or stayed about the same since Barack Obama became president. How about (ITEM)?
Please tell me if its gotten better, gotten worse, or stayed about the same. [IF
BETTER/WORSE] Is that much better/worse or somewhat better/worse?
Summary Table 3/15/16
----- Better ---NET
Much
Smwt

Same

----- Worse ----NET

Smwt
Much

No opinion

a. The economy
All
Whites
Nonwhites (NET)
Blacks
Hispanics

54
47
65
81
57

20
14
29
46
20

34
33
36
35
37

23
26
20
11
24

21
25
14
7
18

12
14
9
4
10

9
11
5
3
8

2
2
1
1
1

b. Race relations
All
Whites
Nonwhites (NET)
Blacks
Hispanics

27
21
36
39
31

8
4
14
19
11

19
17
22
20
20

30
28
35
31
38

39
47
27
28
28

20
23
15
17
16

19
24
11
11
12

4
4
2
2
3

4. Do you think Obama is wholly responsible for (ITEM) (getting better/getting

worse/staying about the same), partly responsible, or do you think (it/they) would
have (gotten better/gotten worse/stayed about the same) regardless?
Summary Table 3/15/16
Wholly

Partly

Same regardless

No opinion

a. The economy
All
Whites
Nonwhites (NET)
Blacks
Hispanics

15
11
21
29
19

52
56
47
40
50

31
31
30
28
30

2
2
2
4
1

b. Race relations
All
Whites
Nonwhites (NET)
Blacks
Hispanics

10
7
13
20
10

34
37
30
22
31

53
54
54
55
56

3
3
3
3
3

Wholly

Partly

Same regardless

No opinion

21
12
29
34
27

60
69
51
45
54

16
16
17
16
18

2
2
2
4
1

53
61
43
Hispanics.)

25
27
25

3
4
2

Same regardless

No opinion

Among gotten better, Q3

Summary Table 3/15/16
a. The economy
All
Whites
Nonwhites (NET)
Blacks
Hispanics

b. Race relations
All
19
Whites
7
Nonwhites (NET)
29
(Insufficient N for blacks and
Among gotten worse, Q3
Summary Table 3/15/16

Wholly
Partly
a. The economy
All
11
51
Whites
14
54
(Insufficient N for nonwhites.)
b. Race relations
All
10
Whites
11
Nonwhites (NET)
7
(Insufficient N for blacks and

33
35
30
Hispanics.)

37
32

1
*

54
52
57

2
2
2

Among stayed same, Q3

Summary Table 3/15/16
Wholly
Partly
a. The economy
All
6
35
Whites
7
33
(Insufficient N for nonwhites.)
b. Race relations
All
Whites

1
*

19
20

Same regardless

No opinion

57
59

2
1

76
77

3
3

Nonwhites (NET)
2
16
(Insufficient N for blacks and Hispanics.)

79

5. Do you think people judge Obama differently from other presidents because hes
black, or do you think his race doesnt come into it?
All
Whites
Nonwhites (NET)
Blacks
Hispanics

Differently
67
65
67
90
55

Not a factor
31
33
31
8
43

No opinion
2
2
2
2
2

5a. (IF JUDGE DIFFERENTLY, Q5) Do you think people go (harder) on Obama because of his
race, or go (easier) on him?
All
Whites
Nonwhites (NET)
Blacks
Hispanics

Harder
84
82
89
92
87

Easier
10
11
8
7
8

No opinion
6
7
3
1
5

5/5a NET:
All
Whites
Nonwhites (NET)
Blacks
Hispanics

----------- Differently ---------NET

Harder
Easier
No opinion
67
55
6
4
65
53
7
4
67
59
6
2
90
82
7
1
55
47
5
3

Not a factor
31
33
31
8
43

No opinion
2
2
2
2
2

6. Do you think the federal government should or should not apologize to black
Americans for the slavery that once existed in this country?
All
Whites
Nonwhites (NET)
Blacks
Hispanics

Should
50
41
62
68
59

Should not
44
53
34
29
37

No opinion
6
6
4
3
4

7. Would you support or oppose the federal government making a cash payment to black
Americans as a way to compensate them for harm caused by slavery and other kinds of
discrimination against blacks in the past?
All
Whites
Nonwhites (NET)
Blacks
Hispanics

Support
32
21
46
62
40

Oppose
62
74
48
33
54

No opinion
6
5
6
5
6

***END***