Race relations in America is not poll-able

[Kevin Spidel]

Dear GOP,

No polling will do you can not poll on the issue of race relations. Most American's don't understand how institutionalized privilege manifests within ourselves and society. There is no polling question to determine state of race relations in America. The GOP talking points to rebut Carter's statement rests in polling. This is not poll-able.

[PretzelWarrior]

1. some of the worst racists don't think they're racists

so what a load of self deluding crap from the party of racists.

[burning rain]

7. They have endless rationalizations...

One of the favorites of those white conservatives who are racists is, "Democrats got their minorities; we got ours. I like Clarence Thomas and Thomas Sowell just fine."

[Hello_Kitty]

2. They use the narrowest definition of racism possible to apply to racism in white people

You have to be wearing a sheet and burning a cross to qualify. But you can talk about welfare queens and gangbangers and "socialism" and the half-negro President's birth certificate all day long. OTOH if a person of color makes a peep about race they are automatically and loudly denounced as "racist" and "playing the race card".

[La Lioness Priyanka]

3. no minority issues are really pollable because the people most affected are in smaller numbers

[insanity]

4. I don't think so

You can generate a representative sample of a really small population. This is the central limit theorem in action! Here are some examples (using 95% Confidence in the sample being a representative distribution with a +/- of 3):
A population of 20 needs a sample size of 20.
A population of 200 needs a sample size of 169.
A population of 2,000 needs a sample size of 669.
A population of 20,000 needs a sample size of 1013.
A population of 200,000 needs a sample size of 1061.

Most of our minority populations are in numbers great enough that we can get a decent sample size.

The problem is, as the OP put it, that you can't poll on issues of racism for a number of reasons. One is that most people would not willing tell a survey or a researcher that he is racist. Another that it is plain hard to define racism in an operational context where both the researcher and the interviewee could agree.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

8. yes, but if gays feel homophobia disproportionately more than straights

polling gays and straights equally doesnt work

i understand the stats behind polling just find but polling has a theory behind it. polling about race relations, when it effects POC more than whites, and polling them equally lacks validitiy

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

5. I disagree. There was a big poll last year.

At least 45.6% of the country is racist.

[insanity]

6. Thats not fair

Lumping all McCain voters as racists is absurd. We can not reduce our political opposites to their lowest members. Obviously there is a huge dose of racism at play on the right, but calling all McCain voters as racists is unfair.