Nation Racially Divided Over Zimmerman Verdict

(Newser) – Two new polls find America is divided racially and politically over the outcome of the Zimmerman trial. Both a Washington Post-ABC News poll (of 1,002 people) and a Pew Research poll (of 1,480) found 86% of black respondents were unhappy with the verdict, compared with 31% of whites in the former poll and 30% in the latter. In the Post-ABC poll, 87% of African Americans believed the shooting was not justified, versus 33% of white Americans. The two groups were also divided over whether the issue of race was too much of a focus in the discourse around the case—the Pew poll found 78% of blacks said it raised "important issues about race that need to be discussed," while 60% of whites thought race received too much attention.

The political divide was less stark, but still significant—65% of Republicans in the Post-ABC poll and 61% in the Pew poll were satisfied with the verdict, while 62% and 68% of Democrats disapproved, respectively. The Pew poll also found 80% of Tea Party supporters were satisfied with the verdict.