Correction to This Article

Poll: Race, Gender Divide Americans on Imus' Firing

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By Jon Cohen and Jennifer Agiesta

Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, April 16, 2007; 9:42 AM

Americans by a narrow margin agree that Don Imus should have lost his nationally syndicated radio show last week, but while whites are evenly divided on the issue a sizeable majority of African Americans support the firing, according to a poll released today.

Overall, 51 percent of respondents in the new Washington Post-ABC News poll said Imus should have been fired for making racially insensitive comments about black women basketball players from Rutgers University; 45 percent said he should have kept his job.

However, that rough parity on the issue masks deep racial and significant gender divides. Whites were evenly split in the poll on Imus' firing, with 47 percent supporting CBS Radio's decision and 49 percent opposed. By contrast, more than seven in 10 blacks said he should have been fired over the incident. And 55 percent of women thought Imus should have lost his job, compared to 48 percent of men who agreed with that outcome.

Among black women, 70 percent said Imus should have lost his show over his remarks.

This Post-ABC News poll was conducted by telephone April 12-15, 2007, among a random national sample of 1,141 adults. The results for the full poll have a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points; it is plus or minus seven percentage points for the African American sample.

More from this poll will be released today at 5 p.m. Full details on these questions are available at www.washingtonpost.com/polls.