Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Poll: Systemic racism is a serious problem
Most in state see criminal justice system as biased
An overwhelming majority of Floridians see systemic racism as a serious problem in the U.S., polling released Thursday shows.
More than half of registered voters surveyed in The New York Times/Siena College poll said police are more likely to use force against a Black person than a white person, that the criminal justice system is biased against African Americans and that they support the demonstrations that have been taking place across the country since the killing of George Floyd.
Racism
The poll found 56% of Florida registered voters see systemic racism in the United States as a very serious problem and another 28% as a serious problem.
Just 8% said they thought it is not a very serious problem and 6% said it is not at all a problem.
At the same time, they survey found more than one-third of Floridians believe “discrimination against whites has become as big of a problem as
discrimination against Blacks or other minorities.”
Among Florida voters, 36% agreed with that assessment and 56% disagreed. Among white voters 44% agreed and 52% disagreed. Among Black voters, 11% agreed and 79% disagreed and among Hispanic voters, 30% agreed and 54% disagreed.
George Floyd killing
Floyd, who was black, was killed on May 25 by a white Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, who had his knee pressed into Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes. Chauvin and three other officers have been fired and criminally charged for their actions. A large majority, 62%, said Floyd’s death is part of a broader pattern of excessive police violence toward African Americans. Another 30% believe Floyd’s death was an isolated incident.
The demonstrations spurred by the Floyd killing have the support of 57% of Floridians, who see them as “mainly peaceful protests with an important message.” But 39% disapprove of the protests “because too many have
turned into violent rioting.”
Police treatment of a Black person
Most Florida voters think race plays a role in police use of violence, with 54% saying that police are more likely to use force against a Black person. Another 34% said race doesn’t affect police use of deadly force. (The poll found 4% said police are more likely to use deadly force against someone who is white.)
Criminal justice system
A majority believe the criminal justice system is biased against African Americans. The poll found 58% of Florida voters had that view, while 35% said the criminal justice system treats people equally regardless of race.
Trump performance
President Donald Trump’s approval for his handling of race relations and the protests after Floyd’s death is significantly lower than his overall approval rating — and lower than the 41% of Floridians who say they plan vote for him.
■ Trump’s handling of race relations: 60% disapprove, 33% approve. Disapproval is 53% among white voters, 89% among Black voters and 69% among
Hispanic voters. Higher percentages disapprove than approve of Trump’s handling of race relations in every demographic group surveyed except Republicans, among whom 74% approve.
■ Trump’s handling of Floyd protests: 61% disapprove, 30% approve. As with race relations, disapproval is higher than approval among every group, except Republicans, among whom 65% approved.
■ Overall Trump performance: 54% disapprove, 43% approve.
Biden vs. Trump
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is seen by Florida voters as able to handle race relations and unify the country better than Trump.
To some extent, the views show how people feel generally about Biden and Trump. The New York Times/Siena College poll found Biden is 6 percentage points ahead of Trump in Florida.
The poll found 51% of Florida voters would trust Biden to do a better job than Trump on race relations, with 39% putting more trust in Trump.
The poll found 49% said Biden would do a better job at unifying America; 40% said Trump would do a better job.
A question that didn’t name either candidate showed a much larger share of voters approve of Biden’s view of the protests than Trump’s:
■ 62% said they’d prefer a presidential candidate who says “we need to focus on the cause of the protests even when they go too far.”
■ 31% said they’d prefer a presidential candidate who says “we need to be tough on protests that go too far.”
The fine print
The results come from a New York Times/Siena College survey of 651 Florida registered voters from June 8 to 18 with live callers to landlines and cellphones.
The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.
The sample size for smaller groups, white, Black and Hispanic voters, is smaller and the margin of error is higher.
In order to ask more questions about race relations and the aftermath of the Floyd killing, the pollsters posed some of those questions to only half the sample. As a result, they didn’t provide breakdowns of demographic groups because the much smaller sizes would have made the results unreliable.