46 Percent of Mississippi Republicans Want Interracial Marriage Banned

Thequeen's Avatar
WOW is all that I can say!!! First some ppl think that marriage should be only between a man and a woman now some are saying that it should between a man and woman of the same race????

http://www.aolnews.com/2011/04/08/46...cial-marriage/
That is just sad, that is just sad.
Racism at its best. I could write paragraphs on this, but I won't. Its not only sad, its pathetic and some need to understand its not their right to tell others how to live.

BLAH!
john_galt's Avatar
If you read the entire report you will note that 40% of the respondents said that interracial marriage should be legal and 14% weren't sure. The number of people who self identified as conservative was 40%. I submit that the 40% who are conservative are the same 40% that believe interracial marriage should be legal. I can't prove it but you can't prove the inverse.
Also, it has not been determined the racial make up of the respondents only that they are "likely" to vote in a GOP primary. Some even self identified as liberal or somewhat liberal.
Another point, who is this polling outfit and who contracted the poll? I gather that this question was asked for the direct purpose of trying to impugn the participants of the poll as it has nothing to do with political choices. Don't fall for the bait.

Looking up Public Policy Polling they are known to be a Democratic polling outfit and have admitted to having some liberal bias.
The demographics of the poll are interesting (keeping in mind that inter-racial marriage was illegal until the mid 60's in MS):

18-29 12%
30-45 20%
46-65 36%
65 and up 32%

compared to the general population of Mississippi, where:

46-65 21%
65 and up 12%


I grew up in the deep south...and there is a generational divide....which is really what this story should be about.

I don't like it when polls generate the news. I am unaware of any controversy or policy debate in Mississippi concerning inter-racial marriage...so I have to ask my self

"Why did they randomly throw the question into the poll?"

It was a poll about local and national primary candidates...with the marriage question just sort of tacked on. They didn't even ask about gay marriage, which is a part of the public discourse (and some respondents may have even thought that's what the question was about). They just threw a net out there to see what they could catch.

"Hey Jackson, when you do that poll of GOP voters in the least progressive southern state, be sure to ask an outrageous and race charged question that has nothing to do with any of the candidates...and skew the demographic as much as you can."

Sure its racist, and its fine to be indignant...but this is an attempt to paint the entire Republican Party with an old, deep south brush...which does lead me to be skeptical of the polling company's motives.
It is also worth noting that the sample was quite small, and has what is generally considered to be a rather high margin of error. The sample size was only 400, and the margin of error was 4.9%

I still find it very surprising though, that such a high number of respondents are opposed to interracial marriage. Makes me wonder how the question was phrased, and also why the question was asked at all in a poll intended to gauge political attitudes.
JRLawrence's Avatar
It is also worth noting that the sample was quite small, and has what is generally considered to be a rather high margin of error. The sample size was only 400, and the margin of error was 4.9%

I still find it very surprising though, that such a high number of respondents are opposed to interracial marriage. Makes me wonder how the question was phrased, and also why the question was asked at all in a poll intended to gauge political attitudes. Originally Posted by SinsOfTheFlesh

Right on Girl! Sample size is wrong. Group selected is wrong: primary voters from one party only. Where was the sample taken; was it representative of the entire group, or only collected in the poor part of a rural town with mostly uneducated people. In short this is a stacked deck without any statistical significance. The story was only written to sell newspapers. It is also propaganda from the Democratic party: "look at those stupid Republicans, (Racism at its best?) if you don't want to be like them; vote for us".

I like a woman who can perceive when information is not correct.

JR
Adrielle's Avatar
Loving v. Virginia was only decided 44 years ago. It's sad, but I can't say I'm surprised. While we've make leaps and bounds in the progress of attitudes, it's still only been a few decades. Just a year and a half ago an interracial couple in Louisiana were denied a marriage license by a Justice of the Peace. I've dated individuals who have had family members refuse to support our relationship because they felt that dating outside their race was unacceptable. It bothered me at first, but eventually I realized that some people are just set in their ways and it's unlikely that I'll ever convince them otherwise.

I was just discussing with a family member recently how when he was growing up, he wasn't allowed to go to the local pool because his skin was dark enough it was obvious he wasn't white. He's only in his 50s. As unfortunate as it is, I'm just happy that I'm blessed to be a part of a much more understanding and accepting society then my parents grew up in.
sipapi's Avatar
Gotta love apologists
CuteOldGuy's Avatar
I have to admit, I am opposed to same-sex marriages. I was married for 25 years, and it was always the same sex. Then it became no sex. Thank God for the Queen and her friends!
I see this changing in the next couple of years. There has been a recent surge in minorities & young people moving to the south for jobs and inexpensive housing. We'll see a nice shift soon.

People will always find a reason to fear or hate that which is different than them or those things they don't understand or refuse to understand.
I anxiously await this polling company's similar polling data for the Democratic primary candidates, complete with outrageous race baiting question.
Gotta love apologists Originally Posted by sipapi
Gotta love folks who swallow spoon fed pre-packaged "news" whole without the bother of critical thinking. Yeah I know, it takes effort to actually apply some critical thinking before buying the swamp land. Still, the honor is in the effort, right?
Well to be honest if I had an interracial marriage and moved to Mississippi I would be very careful what neighborhood I chose to live in, with or without a poll to guide me.

I would like to see a poll in the South or hell everywhere to see if conservative religious thinking can accept a Mormon or Mitt Romney as a Christian. Huckabee can't. Ticking bomb on this one.

If it were up to me and as a candidate you ever once talked about faith I would disallow your candidacy. That's just me. I want clear headed thinkers.

In this time of 150 years after the Civil War we should remember that humans were once property and without liberty and many died to make that change and preserve our Union. Some just never got over it.
I anxiously await this polling company's similar polling data for the Democratic primary candidates, complete with outrageous race baiting question. Originally Posted by lacrew_2000
Yep.