Diversity Council: Racial Attitude Survey Community Briefing

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Diversity Council Survey Reveals Racial Perceptions

by Christina Killion Valdez

August 28 , 2007

Are blacks naturally more violent than whites?

Thirty percent of Olmsted County respondents of a recent survey by the Diversity Council believe so.

That is just one of several indications in the "2006 Olmsted County Racial Attitudes and Actions Survey" of increased racism and anti-immigrant sentiments in Olmsted County since the organization's last survey in 1990. That year, 11 percent of respondents believed that "blacks are naturally more violent than whites."

Prompted to action by the survey results, Kay Hocker, Diversity Council executive director, said, "My great hope is our community can work together to dispel myths about race and immigration."

The Diversity Council in partnership with Rochester Mayor Ardell Brede organized a meeting with business and community leaders today to discuss issues revealed by the survey and possible countywide initiatives for change.

The survey, however, suggests little change has been made in the last 15 years with regard to integration and interracial interactions.

To measure progress, many of the 120 questions were taken from the 1990 survey. Several new and open-ended questions were also added to identify areas of positive and negative attitudes, and areas of need, said Char Kunkel, associate professor of sociology at Luther College, who conducted the survey.

The survey was distributed about a year ago to a random sample of 2,270 households in Olmsted County. Of those, only 343 people responded; however, the sample is deemed "fairly representative" of the population of the county, Kunkel said.

In analyzing the results, Kunkel found that diversity is valued and supported, with respondents' written responses including "I think it's a very positive thing," and "I would like to see more of an increase in the minority population. I feel that it is important to expose children to people of many nationalities and cultures."

However, the actions of respondents didn't match that value, she said.

The majority of white respondents don't interact with people of other races, she said.

Of white respondents, 75 percent said that none of their three closest neighbors were of another race; 78 percent claimed that none of their three closest co-workers were of another race; and 80 percent claimed that none of their three closest friends were of another race.

While she said she wasn't surprised by the results, Kunkel stressed the ability to use the data to educate the community about what needs to be done.

"I think people working together will be able to derive a strategy to make change," Kunkel said.

Hocker agreed: "Racism is not new. Anti-immigrant sentiment is not new. What we hope is that we give people concrete evidence that it does exist and that together we can make positive change."

To do so, Hocker plans to propose a new set of questions at the community meeting, including, "What should our next step be?" "How can we dispel myths about race and immigration?" and "What changes do we want to see and why?"