Interesting poll on race and diversity in Mass. In spite of its progressive culture, people still aren't finding themselves interacting with folks from other races and cultures as much as some of us might think. I suppose the size and composition of the population has a lot to do with it. This article sheds light on a couple of interesting things including how Asians responded to this survey. The issue is not local to Mass and probably holds true of many other places in the country - both liberal and conservative.
Increased diversity, separate lives Pollshows racial divide in Mass. By Yvonne Abraham, Globe Staff | December 18, 2006 Despite the increasing diversity of the population here, the state's black, white, Asian, and Latino residents are living largely separate lives and take a dim view of race relations, according to a poll released today.
At work, in their neighborhoods, and socially, an overwhelming majority of white residents, for example, still interact predominantly with other whites. The survey showed that 61 percent of white respondents said they see "only a few" or no African-Americans in daily life, and 71 percent said they see only a few or no Latinos.
"We have made a great symbolic statement about Massachusetts as a home to diverse people," said Steve Crosby , dean of the John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies, which commissioned the survey along with three think tanks at the University of Massachusetts. "But this data tells us there is still serious work to be done in terms of race relations and conditions for all ethnicities in our community."
The survey of 749 adults from across the state was conducted in October and November by the Center for Survey Research at UMass-Boston.
According to the survey, African-Americans and Latinos also associate mostly with people of their own race and ethnicity, though they are not as segregated as the white residents. A large majority of Asians also said they interact with few or no African-Americans and Latinos, but they reported seeing more white residents in their daily lives than they do people of their own race.
The results are partly a function of the state's relatively low minority population, said Carol Hardy-Fanta, director of the McCormack School's Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy, who analyzed the results. While roughly half of Boston's population are members of minorities, many parts of the state are inhabited overwhelmingly by white residents. Massachusetts' population is 83 percent white, 8 percent Latino, 6 percent black, and 5 percent Asian, according to 2005 Census estimates, which add up to more than 100 percent because some respondents place themselves in two racial categories.
"Whites are living in places where they have much less opportunity to spend time with people other than whites," who are overwhelming majorities in most of the state's 351 cities and towns, said Hardy-Fanta. In Cohasset on the South Shore, Rowley north of Boston, and Uxbridge in Central Massachusetts, for example, the minority population is less than 2 percent.
But the results also reflect the fact that, even given the increase in minority residents in recent years, races and ethnicities remain remarkably separate in the state as a whole.
And the members of each group are acutely conscious of the divisions that remain between them: A majority of each racial and ethnic group -- 75 percent of black respondents, 67 percent of Latinos, 56 percent of whites, and 52 percent of Asians -- rated race relations in Massachusetts as fair or poor.
The black and Latino residents surveyed were the most likely to say that members of their group get fair or poor treatment in Massachusetts.
Asked whether they thought conditions for minority groups in Massachusetts had improved over the last five years, only 16 percent of black respondents and 29 percent of Latinos said yes. Their view of race relations appears to have deteriorated since a similar UMass survey in 1998, which found that 29 percent of African-Americans and 43 percent of Latinos felt their conditions had improved.
Eleven percent of blacks and almost as many Latinos said they had "personally experienced" discrimination, such as in employment, housing, or some other area, because of their race or ethnicity often or very often during the last 12 months.
Though much appears to divide the groups, all of the respondents expressed significant concern over their finances. Among Asians, 35 percent said they found it somewhat difficult or very difficult to pay their bills, as did 49 percent of white respondents. The anxiety jumped among respondents in the other two groups, with 73 percent of African-Americans and 70 percent of Latinos saying they find it somewhat difficult or very difficult to pay their bills.
Surprisingly, Crosby said, the respondents who were least optimistic about the future were white. Only 23 percent of them said they believe life will be better for the next generation. Black respondents were slightly less pessimistic about the future, with 32 percent saying the believe the next generation will have better lives.
"That is so striking to me," said Crosby . "It appears we are all in this together. We are all facing economic uncertainty, we are all feeling distanced from our institutions, we are all feeling disenfranchised and at risk. Maybe whites are most pessimistic because they're not used to living with this."
Latinos and Asians had far higher hopes for the future than their black and white counterparts, with half of the Latino respondents and 61 percent of Asians saying they expect life to improve for the next generation.
That optimism is born of the immigrant experience, Hardy-Fanta said: Most of the Latinos and Asians surveyed were comparing life in the United States with life in their home countries, where conditions are probably far more difficult.
And among those immigrants, Asians had the most positive outlook across the board, according to the survey.
In addition to being most optimistic about the future, Asians were far less likely to feel discriminated against than black or Latino respondents, and almost half of them rated race relations as good or very good. More of them said they have confidence in state government and public schools than did members of any other group, including whites. Fewer of them said they had trouble paying bills.
The rosier views of Asians may reflect their higher educational levels, compared with those of other immigrants, which accords them better job opportunities, Hardy-Fanta said. They may also benefit from positive, "model minority" stereotypes, which may make them less discriminated against.
But even for Asians, there is much ground to make up in terms of race relations, Hardy-Fanta said.
"This state did break ground in seeing past race to elect an African-American governor," Hardy-Fanta said. "Yet this study shows that, on the ground, among the great majority of constituents, there are still long ways to go."
Getting there will be difficult as long as racial and ethnic groups live so separately, she said.
"The potential for change in perceptions depends on the frequency of interaction," she said. "The amount of time you spend with people from other races does affect whether or not you are going to change your views, or whether they are going to become more firm."
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