Poll: Ethnic profiling, war effort garner local support

Pride

by Ann Marie Deer Owens

Most Nashvillians have no problem with ethnic Arabs who want to live in America undergoing special scrutiny by law enforcement, according to a new poll conducted by a Vanderbilt political scientist and some of his students. Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed said people of Middle Eastern background and appearance should undergo more intensive security checks in order to live in this country.

Among those favoring such checks, the greatest support came from the African-Americans who were surveyed, said Richard A. Pride, associate professor of political science at Vanderbilt.

"We found, to our surprise, that 74 percent of blacks supported ethnic profiling of Middle Easterners, while only 64 percent of whites and other races did so from among those who expressed an opinion," Pride said.

The random telephone survey of 454 Davidson County residents, which took place between Oct. 26 and Nov. 4, showed strong support for the Bush administration's war on terrorism, including the use of ground troops inside Afghanistan.

"While 73 percent of the respondents favored the bombing of Afghanistan, perhaps most surprising was that a significantly higher number -- 86 percent -- support the use of American ground forces in the war zone," Pride said. They also favored the idea of the United States attacking other countries, such as Iraq and Somalia, if they can be linked to terrorism.

Pride also said that the current president would do very well in Davidson County if the election were held this year. "While only 36 percent said they voted for Bush last year, almost half of the respondents said they would vote for him this year if he were running against Al Gore again," Pride said.

The poll, which is called "The 2001 Report on Public Opinion in Nashville," covered a wide range of issues including education, capital punishment and a proposed state income tax. Only 21 percent of those surveyed said they would grade Metro public schools with an "A" or "B." That was down 4 percent from last year's poll, Pride noted.

"What is more striking, however, is the finding that the public rates the quality of teachers higher than the overall quality of the school," he said. Of those questioned, 43 percent gave Metro public school teachers either an "A" or "B" this year, compared to 46 percent in 2000.

Pride believes this year's intense media attention surrounding Tennessee's first execution in decades has caused a shift in public opinion about capital punishment. While 49 percent of the respondents in 1996 supported execution for a convicted murderer, there has been a downward trend the past five years. Only 34 percent favored capital punishment in this year's survey.

More than half of those questioned described the state's financial difficulties as a "significant problem," while 21 percent said it was a "small problem." Exactly half of the respondents said they would favor a state income tax if the sales tax could be removed from food and other necessities.

The survey, which had an overall sampling error rate of plus or minus 5 percent, was conducted by students in the political science class "Campaigns and Electoral Behavior."

e-mail to the editor