A new poll shows Black and white Tampa Bay Residents feel very differently about a lot of racial issues.
According to a survey by the Tampa Bay Partnership, most residents said that race relations in the area are much better in Tampa than throughout the rest of the country. However, most other topics showed a large divide between the sentiments of Black and white residents.
For instance, 72% of Tampa Bay residents said race relations in the area are “generally good.” While only 29% said the same about the country as a whole.
Since spring the country witnessed a racial reckoning of sorts, as the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor galvanized Black Lives Matter protests calling for police reform and social justice issues around the country. The survey shows 61% of local residents support the Black Lives Matter movement. The divide is clear though, as 91% of Black residents support it and 31% of white residents are strongly opposed.
The difference in opinion is the most striking when it comes to the topic of police. When encountering an officer only 7% of local Black residents feel safer, compared to 60% of white residents.
Less than two weeks from the presidential election, the study reflected that 51% of Tampa Bay residents believe issues of racism are important in the election, with 53% of residents believing Joe Biden is more likely than Donald Trump to improve race relations in the country.
These findings come a couple months after the partnership released its 2020 Regional Equity Report. The study demonstrated Tampa Bay’s Black residents are likely to be paid much less than their white counterparts, and are more likely to live in poverty.
“The findings of this survey aren’t surprising, but they do validate the feelings and opinions of our residents in a quantifiable way,” said Partnership President and CEO Rick Homans. “We hope this data will foster important dialogue within our community, and inform the hard conversations about race that are needed to create a diverse, inclusive region.”
The poll was conducted in collaboration with the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay, United Way Suncoast and the USF Muma College of business. Research company Downs & St. Germain surveyed a demographically representative group consisting of 450 residents in the area. The survey has a 95% confidence interval.
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This article appears in Oct 29 – Nov 4, 2020.