18816: Esser: Poll of Haitian-American Opinion on Haiti's Crisis (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser torx@joimail.com

New California Media
http://news.ncmonline.com

Poll of Haitian-American Opinion on Haiti's Crisis , U.S. Haiti
Policy and Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide

NCM - A Public Opinion Survey Conducted by Bendixen & Associates

Sponsored by the James Irvine Foundation and the Evelyn and Walter
Haas, Jr. Fund, NCM Multilingual Poll,
Feb 19, 2004


Overview
With the current crisis in Haiti refocusing international attention
on the Caribbean nation, Haitian-Americans are divided about the
conflict gripping their homeland, but lean toward allowing Haiti's
elected leader to finish out his term.

Over half of Haitian-Americans believe embattled Haitian President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide should not resign because he was legitimately
elected as president in 2000.
U.S. Haitians' support for Aristide is lukewarm, and they are
ambivalent about his leadership, but they also are skeptical toward
the country’s various opposition movements, especially of rebels in
the Artibonite region that have recently employed violence to further
their aims.

Additionally, Haitian-Americans expressed ambivalence about U.S.
intervention in Haiti and disapproval of key aspects of U.S.
President George W. Bush's Haiti policy.

The estimated 1 million Haitian-Americans living in the United States
are a growing immigrant population concentrated primarily in the
Northeast and Florida.

Haiti, the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, where the U.S.
military intervened in the mid-1990s to restore security and put an
exiled Aristide back in the presidency, is again in the grips of a
violent struggle for power. In the northern and central parts of
Haiti (Artibonite region) armed rebels have taken over cities and
roads and are demanding Aristide's removal.

In Port-au-Prince, the capital, the mainstream opposition—including
Democratic Convergence, an alliance of Aristide's political
opponents, and the Group 184 organization of businesses and civic
groups—is also asking for his resignation and new elections.

Haiti's political situation is widely debated by thriving Haitian
communities in U.S. cities. But the broader public seldom hears
Haitian-American views. Now, with international media attention
refocused on Haiti, this poll taps into the opinions of this
overlooked immigrant community.

The survey conducted by Bendixen & Associates involved a
scientifically selected, representative sample of 600
Haitian-American adults who chose to be interviewed in either Haitian
Creole or English. Before being questioned respondents were assured
the interview was 100 percent confidential. The poll has a margin of
error of +/- (4) four percentage points.

Respondents were questioned in five states, Florida, New York, New
Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts, between Feb. 12 and Feb. 18 as
Haiti's crisis was generating headlines in U.S. media.

Major Findings: Aristide
A slight majority (53 percent) of Haitian Americans said they believe
that Aristide should stay in office in the face of an armed uprising
and demands from political opponents that he step down.

Still, one-third of respondents (33 percent) said that Aristide
should resign. The rest (14 percent) didn't know or offered no answer.

Responses to this question revealed an important generational/
linguistic divide in the Haitian community. Respondents who answered
poll questions in English, as well as respondents under 30 years of
age, tended to be less supportive of Aristide (see below).

In general, Haitian-Americans did not show strong support for the
opposition movements.

Among respondents, only a small portion (6 percent) said they
supported the military action by the Revolutionary Artibonite
Resistance Front, which controls the key city of Gonaives and aims to
expand the armed revolt throughout the country. Slightly more (16
percent) said they supported the peaceful demonstrations organized by
the Democratic Convergence opposition group.

A slight majority (55 percent) agreed with the statement that the
opposition movements in Haiti are fighting for power, not democracy.
Only one-fifth of respondents (21 percent) agreed with the statement
that the opposition was fighting for democracy.

When asked a series of questions listing reasons for why Aristide
should resign or stay in office, a majority (57 percent) of
respondents said Aristide should remain in office because he was
elected by an overwhelming majority of Haitians in the 2000
presidential elections. Only one-fourth of Haitian-American
respondents (27 percent) disagreed with this statement.

Of the arguments presented for Aristide’s resignation, the following
elicited the most approval: a significant number of respondents (39
percent) said that Aristide should resign because he does not respect
the human rights of Haitians. 38 percent, however, disagreed with
this statement.

Finally, respondents were asked to rate whether the economic and
political situation is better now under Aristide, or whether it was
better under the iron-fisted Duvalier dictatorships (Jean-Claude and
his son, Francois, who ruled Haiti between 1957-1986).
Surprisingly, over half of respondents (55 percent) said that Haiti
was better off economically and politically under the Duvaliers.

Only a small portion (14 percent) said the situation was better under
Aristide. The fact that many Haitian-Americans seem to feel nostalgia
for the Duvalier era reveals the extent to which they feel that the
current state of affairs is grim.

Major Findings: U.S. Policy Toward Haiti and Current Crisis
Asked whether they approved of President Bush's handling of foreign
policy toward Haiti, a very small percentage of respondents (9
percent) said they approved and a larger percentage (34 percent) said
they disapproved.

Nevertheless, a significant number of Haitian-American respondents
(37 percent) gave President Bush positive job ratings, while 29
percent gave him negative job ratings.

In terms of party identification, the respondents leaned
overwhelmingly toward the Democratic Party. Over half (57 percent)
said the Democratic Party best represented the interests of Haitians.
Only a small proportion (5 percent) said the Republican Party best
represented their interests.

A majority of respondents (59 percent) disapprove of the economic
sanctions that were imposed on Haiti following allegations of
irregularities in May 2000 legislative elections.

A significant percentage of respondents (41 percent) believe U.S.
immigration policy and agencies discriminate against Haitians. A
smaller percentage (35 percent) disagreed with this statement.

When offered a list of countries or organizations that should take
the lead role in restoring security to Haiti, most respondents
thought either the United States (25 percent), Haiti itself (20
percent), or the United Nations (26 percent) should take the lead.

But Haitian-Americans were divided over whether the United States
should get involved, and how.

One-third said the U.S. should offer military support to Aristide (32
percent); a nearly equal proportion (30 percent) said the U.S.
military should stay out of Haiti altogether and a smaller number (14
percent) said the United States should offer military support to the
opposition.

Major Findings: Linguistic/ Age Divide
Attitudes toward the Haitian political crisis and the leadership of
President Aristide were shaped by the age of the respondent and which
language he or she chose to be surveyed in.

Younger Haitian-Americans and those respondents who were polled in
English were more likely to support Aristide’s resignation.

Of those aged 18-29, almost half (45 percent) said that Aristide
should resign and a smaller number (38 percent) said that he should
serve out his term.

Among those aged 50 and above, the opinions are quite different. Only
one-fourth (24 percent) said that Aristide should resign, and a clear
majority (64 percent) said that he should serve out his term.

Of the Haitian-Americans who were polled in English, a slight
majority (54 percent) said that Aristide should resign and a smaller
number (37 percent) said that Aristide should stay in office.

For those who were polled in Creole, the results were reversed. A
majority (59 percent) said that Aristide should serve out his term. A
smaller percentage (25 percent) said that he should resign.

Details on Haitian Americans Polled

1. The majority of respondents, 92 percent, were Haitian-born.
2. Foreign-born respondents were asked when they came to the U.S.: 20
percent came in the 1970s or before, 36 percent arrived in the 1980s,
28 percent in 1990s and 13 percent after the year 2000.
3. 46 percent said they were U.S. citizens; 53 percent said they were
not
4. Of those who were U.S. citizens, 86 percent said they were
registered voters.
5. Non-citizen respondents were assured that the poll was
confidential and then asked about their immigration status: 80
percent said they were undocumented; 16 percent said they were legal
residents.

Respondents were questioned in five states: FL (50 percent); NY (33
percent); NJ (8 percent); Massachusetts (7 percent) and Connecticut
(2 percent).

This poll was made possible by the James Irvine Foundation and the
Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund.

About New California Media
New California Media is a nationwide association of over 700 print,
broadcast, and online ethnic media organizations founded in 1996 by
the non-profit Pacific News Service. NCM’s goal is to build a more
inclusive public forum by raising the visibility of ethnic media and
their audiences. NCM is supported by grants from the Ford Foundation,
the James Irvine Foundation, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the
Community Technology Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight
Foundation, the Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation, the Evelyn and
Walter Haas Jr. Foundation, the San Francisco Foundation, the Walter
and Elise Haas Fund, and the American Association of Advertising
Agencies among others. Multilingual polling partners include the USC
Annenberg’s Institute for Justice and Journalism, the Center for
Integration and Improvement of Journalism at San Francisco State, and
the Chinese American Voter Education Committee. For more information,
visit www.ncmonline.com.

About The James Irvine Foundation
The mission of The James Irvine Foundation is to expand opportunity
for the people of California to participate in a vibrant, successful
and inclusive society. The Foundation was established in 1937 by
James Irvine, the California pioneer whose 110,000-acre ranch in
Southern California was among the largest privately owned land
holdings in the State. For more information, visit www.irvine.org.

About The Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund
The Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund was founded in 1953 as a way to
give back to the people of the San Francisco Bay Area. The Haas
family's love and deep appreciation for the vitality and beauty of
this place, its people and its culture are expressed through the
Haas, Jr. Fund. The Haas, Jr. Fund is dedicated to celebrating and
building community. This goal gives meaning and direction to all our
work. We seek to create vibrant, safe neighborhoods that support the
healthy development of young people and the well-being of their
families. We also seek to strengthen the bonds of mutual respect
among people from all walks of life to pursue common interests and
contribute to the larger community. For more information, visit
www.haasjr.org.

.