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Article published Oct 5, 2003
S.C.
survey: Fewer black people trust government
Associated Press
COLUMBIA -- Fewer black South Carolinians
than white ones say they trust state government, according to a survey conducted
for Gov. Mark Sanford.The survey for Sanford's government accountability task
force found that half of the state's white citizens trust their government,
compared with just over a quarter of the state's black residents who felt the
same way.Four in 10 black people thought the state was headed in the right
direction, compared with almost two of three white people.The University of
South Carolina Public Service and Policy Research survey of 516 South
Carolinians has a margin of error of 4.3 percentage points.The research
institute contributed the survey to the Commission on Management, Accountability
and Performance appointed this summer to study how to make government work
better.The racial divide was clear throughout the study, with responses from
black people and white people diverging in seven of nine categories."It was a
pretty striking conclusion in every case," said Robert Oldendick, the political
scientist who led the study.The racial disparity does not surprise some."Most
African-Americans don't see the government running well, or helping them," state
Rep. Todd Rutherford, a black Columbia Democrat, said. "A number of whites see
the only role of government is to cut their taxes and let them be
self-sufficient."Felicia Hopkins, a black woman, said African-Americans are
trying to catch up with white people, who historically have had more money and
more power. "We've come a long way, but we still have a long way to go," she
said.Hopkins, 32, has seen high-paying jobs come and go with the arrival and
departure of the Mack Trucks assembly plant in her hometown of
Winnsboro.Government, she said, needs to look at the big picture and be more
worried about bringing jobs to the state than it is with cutting programs little
by little the way the MAP Commission recommends. "Don't worry about a million
dollars here, a million dollars there," she said.To close the perception gap,
Sanford wants to change the tax system, especially by lowering the income
tax."It cuts across racial lines, across gender lines," Sanford spokesman Will
Folks said. "It's one tangible thing we can do to encourage the flow of capital
investment, to encourage the creation of wealth, to stimulate job growth and to
create a place where businesses, including minority-owned businesses, can
thrive."Geography also divided the outlook on the state.For instance, 68 percent
of the people in the Lowcountry thought the state is headed in the right
direction, while only 52 percent of those in the Upstate felt that way.Half of
the people with family incomes between $50,000 to $75,000 thought the state is
doing an excellent job helping businesses create jobs. But just a third of the
people with incomes below $25,000 thought so.