Polling Our Low Opinions of Ourselves

When it comes to ethnic attitudes, it seems college students often deal in extremes. Either they nestle themselves safely among polished words of pluralism and acceptance, or they place themselves behind swelling battle lines, unable or unwilling to communicate completely, receding into an old 90s-style dogmatic jingoism. For most, it would probably seem preposterous to identify shades of distinction between Finns and Lithuanians or between "Spanish Americans" and "Latin Americans" when larger, more fundamental conflicts seems to loom ahead.

But college students are clearly not the general public, or at least not as it's seen by the National Opinion Research Center, which conducted a 1989 poll asking a sample of 1,537 Americans to "rate the 'social standing" of some 40 or so ethnic groups within the United States.

The results of the survey were printed in the January 19 issue of the Atlanta Journal and Constitution and were analyzed next to data from a similar poll conducted in 1964. The general conclusion of the study was that "ethnic prejudice had declined" over the 25 years period, but the data still shows evidence of some lingering old-time attitudes.

Test your understanding of Americans' views on "social standing" with the short quiz below. "Correct" answers are based on data from the 1964 and 1989 surveys, in which ratings are on a scale of one to nine, one noting the lowest standing, and nine the highest.

Part I. Matching. Within each list of three, match the ethnic groups with their corresponding 1989 "social standing" rating.

1) Native white Americans, People of my own ethnic background, People of foreign ancestry a. 6.57, b. 5.38, c. 7.03

2) Mexicans, "Wisians" (a fictitious group), Russians a. 4.12, b. 3.52, c. 4.58

3) American Indians, Negroes*, Czechs a. 4.64, b. 4.17, c. 4.27

Part II. Multiple Choice

1) According to the article, respondents ranked six groups according to qualities such as "industriousness, intelligence and violence." Three groups finished last in all categories. They were:

a. Jews, Southern whites and Blacks

b. Blacks, Asians and Hispanics

c. Southern whites, Blacks and Hispanics

2) Which of the following groups had the lowest rating in the 1964 poll?

a. Japanese

b. Russians

c. Chinese

3) Which of the following groups experienced the highest increase in "social standing" between 1964 and 1989?

a. Negroes*

b. Chinese

c. People of my own ethnic background

4) What ethnic group had the lowest overall rating in 1964 and in 1989?

a. poles

b. Greeks

c. Gypsies

Answers:

(No Peeking)

Part I1) c, a, b 2) b, a, c 3) c, b, a

Part II1) c 2) c 3) a 4) c

*The survey chose to use "Negro" for "Black" in order to "conform to the wording in the 1964 survey".