A Public Opinion Portrait
of the Most Diverse Generation the Nation Has Known
San
Francisco: Family breakdown is the biggest challenge youth
see facing their generation, according to a poll of youth
released by New America Media (NAM) Wednesday, April 25.
It trumps the war in Iraq, global warming and even stress
about school.
NAM, which has been conducting multilingual polls for its
ethnic media network since 2002, commissioned Bendixen &
Associates to conduct the first ever cell phone survey of
young people in California. The poll reveals a deep yearning
among 16 to 22 year olds for traditional structures -- marriage,
parenthood, religion and the benefit of a college education.
At the same time, respondents (59 percent of whom are youth
of color and 49 percent immigrants or the children of immigrants)
show post-minority attitudes about race and ethnic differences.
"These young people represent the forefront of the
cultural continuum,” says Sandy Close, executive director
of New America Media. "To gauge their hopes, fears
and perspectives about the future is to glimpse who we are
becoming as a society."
Anti-immigrant sentiment is a more critical issue for this
generation than racism or discrimination, the poll concludes.
An overwhelming 82% of respondents say they support giving
illegal immigrants a chance to earn legal status and citizenship.
“One of the most diverse generations this nation has
known is also one of the most inclusive, and that sends
a very powerful message to the state,” says NAM Contributing
Editor and award-winning journalist Nell Bernstein.
Silicon Valley DeBug Magazine Youth Coordinator Raj Jayadev
says young people have “taken what has once divided
us — race, ethnicity, and gender — and used
them to bring us closer. Never has a generation made carrying
multiple identities look so easy.”
Nearly all (87%) are open to marrying or entering into a
life partnership with someone of a different race.
“Overall, these young people reflect the optimism
of the American Dream,” says Close. “They believe
they will attend college and do better than their parents.
That may also reflect the optimism of their parents, many
of whom immigrated here to give their children a better
life.”
Nationally recognized pollster Sergio Bendixen conducted
the poll, commissioned by New America Media (NAM) and co-sponsored
by the University of California Office of the President.
The pollsters surveyed 601 Asian, African American, Latino
and White youth in English.
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