ATTITUDES TOWARD THE GOVERNMENT HELPING BLACKS - THE SOUTH VERSUS THE REST OF THE NATION

Data on racial attitudes are studied, specifically on whether or not the government should help blacks. A survey was made of a national representative sample of 880 people who voted in the 1988 national elections. The results show the South to be different from the rest of the nation, with the South having both more people against government help of blacks but also more people favoring government help of blacks. The other regions tend to be neutral on the issue, but lean toward the no-help end of the scale. Thus, the South is unlike other regions, having a bipolar distribution on the issue of government help for blacks. This is true for both black and white Southerners. However, black Southerners were somewhat different from blacks outside the South.