SURVEY SAYS BIAS STILL DIVIDES NATION
SPLC Report
March 2006

In a recent Center survey, a startling majority of respondents reported witnessing some form of bias or bigotry within the last 12 months.

Hundreds of individuals responded to the survey, which asked respondents to share their opinions about tolerance and justice in America. The results provide a reminder that there is much work to be done to combat prejudice and intolerance in the United States.

While many, 39 percent, who answered the poll said they believed the United States is a more tolerant place than it was 10 years ago, the majority, 43 percent, believe it is less tolerant. Respondents were more optimistic about their own communities, however, with 45 percent saying that their home state is more tolerant than 10 years ago and 30 percent saying less.

One of the survey's most dramatic results came when respondents were questioned about their personal experience with prejudice. An overwhelming majority, 70 percent, reported having personally witnessed an incident of everyday bigotry such as racial stereotyping or the use of derisive names for people of a given race, gender or sexual identity over the last year.

Finally, nearly all who responded to the survey believe that race continues to divide the country. Of the more than 800 people who answered, 90 percent believe that racial prejudice continues to be a divisive issue in the United States.