America is divided along racial lines over the jury decision finding George Zimmerman not guilty in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, a new poll shows.
A Rasmussen Reports poll released on Wednesday finds 48 percent of American adults agree with the decision while 34 percent disagree. A large segment of adults -- 18 percent -- is undecided.
But when those numbers are broken down by race, a clear divide emerges. A majority of whites surveyed -- 54 percent -- agreed with the decision while 29 percent did not. Blacks overwhelmingly break the other way, with 68 percent of them disagreeing with the decision while only 21 percent agreed with it. Members of other races are more divided, with 44 percent agreeing with the decision and 31 percent disagreeing with it.
There is also a gender gap on the issue, with 54 percent of men and 42 percent of women agreeing with the decision. While 39 percent of women disagree with the decision only 29 percent of men say they disagree with it.
There is also a clear political divide on the case, with 76 percent of Republicans agreeing with the decision and 59 percent of Democrats disagreeing with it. Other voters are more conflicted but 49 percent of them say they agree with the decision while 27 percent disagree with it.
A strong majority of American adults -- 61 percent -- believe an all-white jury, like the one in the Zimmerman case, can be impartial while 25 percent say such a jury cant render a fair decision. Once again, the poll finds Americans break on racial lines over the matter with 70 percent of whites thinking an all-white jury can be fair while 65 percent of blacks believe it cannot. Americans of other races are more divided, with 53 percent saying an all-white jury can be fair while 30 percent say it cant.
Americans are evenly divided on whether volunteer community watch officers, like Zimmerman, should be allowed to carry a gun, with 42 percent saying they should be able to and the same percentage falling on the other side. The poll finds a smaller racial gap on this issue. Whites are the only group who lean toward allowing these officers to be armed, with 47 percent saying they should be allowed to carry a gun while 40 percent believe they should not. A majority of blacks surveyed -- 55 percent -- and a plurality of Americans of other races -- 44 percent -- believe these officers should not be allowed to carry a gun. Only 34 percent of blacks and 33 percent of Americans of other races think these officers should carry guns.
With 71 percent of those surveyed saying they were following the case very closely or somewhat closely -- including 58 percent of blacks who said they were following it very closely -- the poll finds Americans give the media mixed marks on their coverage. While 32 percent gave the media excellent or good marks for their coverage, 33 percent thought the media covered it poorly. On this issue, there was no racial divide in the poll.
The poll of 1,000 adults was taken July 15-16 and had a margin of error of +/- 3 percent.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at 904-521-3722.
