Winthrop Poll: SC blacks fear police, racism more than whites do

Black South Carolinians are far more fearful than whites of unfair treatment by police and racial discrimination, according to a new Winthrop Poll.

More than half of African-American South Carolinians – 52 percent – said they were very or somewhat worried about being unfairly treated by the police. Almost half – 49 percent – said they feared being victims of racial discrimination.

In contrast, 88 percent of white South Carolinians said they were not too worried or not worried at all about facing racial discrimination or unfair treatment from police.

The divergent opinions of black and white South Carolinians come from questions asked exclusively for The State newspaper of 814 Palmetto State residents from April 3 through April 24.

The results show African-Americans are much more concerned about racial issues than are whites – worries fueled by recent violence against blacks in South Carolina and nationally, said Winthrop Poll director Scott Huffmon.

Two years ago, a South Carolina state trooper shot and injured an unarmed black man during a traffic stop in a Columbia gas station’s parking lot. A year ago, a white North Charleston police officer killed an unarmed black man, shooting him in the back as he fled a traffic stop.

Nationally, there have been a half-dozen cases recently of unarmed African-Americans – including Sandra Bland, Michael Brown, Eric Garner and Freddie Gray – dying while interacting with police.

The Black Lives Matter movement, which emerged into the spotlight during the Democratic presidential campaign, has highlighted those cases – “what the movement says are unjustified killings at the hands of police,” Huffmon said.

“The fact that we’ve had several incidents highlighted in the last couple of years that resulted in the death of an African-American interacting with the police raises the level of fear” for blacks nationally and in South Carolina, the Winthrop University professor said.

Closer on health care, education, jobs

The Winthrop Poll also asked South Carolinians other exclusive questions for The State, gauging their level of concern about health care, job security and their children’s educations.

Black and white South Carolinians were more often in agreement in their opinions on those issues, with blacks expressing slightly more concern than whites but mostly within the poll’s statistical margin of error.

More than 60 percent of whites and blacks said they were not too worried or not worried at all about being unable to get the health care they need.

Asked about their fear of losing their jobs, whites and blacks mostly said they were not too worried or not worried at all.

Black and white South Carolinians also expressed little concern about their children not graduating from high school or not getting into a good college.

Income made little difference in how S.C. residents responded to most of the questions.

However, lower-income whites and blacks – those with less than $50,000 a year in household income – expressed more concern about having adequate access to health care and being able to pay their bills.

Blacks and whites see those challenges similarly because health care, the economy and education are “common-ground issues,” said J.T. McLawhorn, president of the Columbia Urban League.

“All people are concerned about survival,” he said. “People are concerned about taking care of their basic needs and that transcends race.”

‘Driving while black’

But questions about racial bias and law enforcement elicited much more concern from black South Carolinians, the survey found.

Black South Carolinians surveyed said racism was the most important issue facing the nation. And nearly half of S.C. blacks said they had experienced racial discrimination in the past year.

That fear of bias and police sometimes overlaps and is the subject of jokes.

It is called “driving while black,” Huffmon and McLawhorn said.

Huffmon, who is white, said when he walks into a store and a clerk asks, “May I help you,” he assumes the clerk is being a excellent salesperson.

But the experience is different for some African-Americans, who may wonder whether the clerk is being helpful or keeping an eye on the customer.

McLawhorn, who is African-American, recalled black parents who bought their son a less sporty car so he would stop being pulled over every time he drove home from college.

He recalled another instance where a black attorney was walking through his neighborhood and was stopped by police who were following up on a call of a “strange African-American” walking in the neighborhood.

Those types of experiences are the subject of frequent conversation among African-Americans, McLawhorn said, adding whites do not face the same challenges from police for “driving while white.”

“There’s a perception that if you are African-American – and you are outside of what is perceived to be a standard for you – this kind of discrimination is a reality.”

That perception, he said, is fueled by negative media portrayals of African-Americans.

‘Perception ... lines up with reality’

Huffmon said it’s important to note the survey reflects the perception of S.C. blacks and whites – not necessarily whether they have good reason to be worried.

For example, he said, whites and blacks mostly share the same level of fear about being victims of violent crimes – with slightly more blacks, 12 percent, saying they are very worried, compared to 6 percent of whites.

“Lower-income blacks might live in high crime areas, but that doesn’t mean that white people aren’t worried,” he added.

Lower-income blacks – those with household income of less than $50,000 a year – expressed slightly more fear about being victims of violent crimes than low-income whites. That difference, Huffmon said, is the result of poor blacks being more likely to live in urban areas while poorer whites are more likely to live in rural areas.

Huffmon also said African-Americans’ fear of police treating them unfairly is “not to say that the police are out to get African-Americans. The point is that you could say it’s only a few police.

“African-Americans are afraid of running into that one bad apple. That’s where this fear comes from.”

That fear is compounded when perception matches the reality of structural racism in institutions, including the criminal justice system, said Todd Shaw, a University of South Carolina politics and African-American studies professor.

Blacks are more likely to encounter the criminal justice system, he said, meaning the concerns blacks have about police or racism could be a reflection of their own experiences or the experiences of others.

“Perception, in this case, definitely lines up with reality.”

This story was originally published April 30, 2016 at 10:48 PM with the headline "Winthrop Poll: SC blacks fear police, racism more than whites do."