Washington Post Poll

This Washington Post poll was conducted by telephone September 19-23, 2007, among a random national sample of 1,062 adults, including additional interviews with randomly selected African Americans, for a total of 137 black respondents. The results from the full survey have an error margin of plus or minus three percentage points; it is plus or minus eight points for the African American sample. Sampling, data collection and tabulation by ICR of Media, Pa. *= less than 0.5 percent 1. During the last ten years, do you think tensions between racial and ethnic groups in this country have increased, decreased, or stayed about the same? Increased Decreased Stayed the same Don't know 9/23/07 34 13 47 6 White 32 14 48 6 Black 34 10 46 9 4/22/01 29 28 41 2 White 27 30 41 2 Black 34 23 41 1 10/6/95 56 11 32 White 55 11 33 1 Black 55 11 33 1 9/27/95 47 14 39 1 White 45 15 40 * Black* 59 10 32 * * Includes black Hispanics 2. On another subject, how closely would you say you've been following news of the recent arrest of O.J. Simpson in Las Vegas on criminal charges including armed robbery - would you say you've been following it very closely, somewhat closely, not too closely or not closely at all? ----- Closely ------ ----- Not closely ------ No NET Very Smwt. NET Not too At all opinion 9/23/07 32 8 24 67 32 35 1 White 33 6 27 67 34 32 1 Black 39 20 19 58 25 33 3 3. From what you know, do you think these charges against O.J. Simpson are definitely true, probably true, probably not true or definitely not true? ------ True ------- ----- Not true ------ No NET Def. Prob. NET Prob. Def. opinion 9/23/07 54 10 44 16 14 2 30 White 57 9 48 11 9 2 32 Black 48 11 37 26 21 4 27 4. And thinking back about a decade, a jury found O.J. Simpson NOT guilty in the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. Regardless of the verdict, what is your opinion of the case now? Do you think Simpson was definitely guilty, probably guilty, probably not guilty, or definitely not guilty? ------ Guilty ------ --- Not guilty ---- No NET Def. Prob. NET Prob. Def. opinion 9/23/07 67 31 37 19 11 8 14 White 74 33 41 13 8 5 13 Black 45 22 23 40 25 14 16 Compare to: Whether you agree with the jury or not, do you think Simpson was definitely guilty, probably guilty, probably not guilty, or definitely not guilty? --------Guilty-------- ----Not guilty---- No NET Def. Prob. NET Prob. Def. opin. 2/4/97* All 74 34 41 19 14 6 7 Whites 82 39 43 12 9 3 7 Blacks 31 3 28 62 37 25 7 10/6/95 All 65 31 34 28 14 13 8 Whites 72 36 36 20 12 8 8 Blacks 24 3 20 71 25 46 6 10/5/95 All 62 29 33 33 20 14 4 Whites 69 32 37 27 18 9 5 Blacks 16 6 10 81 36 45 4 10/3/95 All 63 29 34 30 17 13 7 Whites 70 33 37 24 15 9 6 Blacks 18 4 14 74 33 41 8 9/27/95 All 68 31 37 26 18 8 6 Whites 77 35 41 18 14 4 5 Blacks 20 5 15 72 47 24 9 7/17/95 All 71 29 42 24 16 8 6 Whites 78 32 46 16 12 3 6 Blacks 22 5 17 71 39 31 7 3/19/95 All 63 20 43 27 20 7 10 Whites 69 20 48 21 16 4 11 Blacks 20 6 14 72 45 28 7 1/29/95 All 59 17 41 32 22 11 9 Whites 66 19 47 24 17 7 10 Blacks 18 8 10 78 42 36 5 1/9/95 All 65 18 48 23 18 5 12 Whites 70 20 51 18 15 3 12 Blacks 26 1 26 60 38 22 13 7/20/94 All 57 10 47 27 20 7 16 Whites 63 11 52 20 17 3 17 Blacks 22 3 19 65 36 30 13 *ABC News 5. Do you think O.J. Simpson has been unfairly targeted by law enforcement, or not? IF YES: Is that because of his race, or for some other reason? ---Yes, targeted---- Not No NET Race Other Targeted Opinion 9/23/07 19 4 15 66 15 White 14 2 12 73 13 Black 47 16 30 38 16 ***END***