Americans support secession at a plurality of 39 percent, according to a Zogby poll. Among those polled, Democrats and black Americans favor it more than any other group.
While only 35 percent of Republicans back secession (a drop from 38 percent last year), 42 percent of Democrats support the right of individual states to break away from the federal government to form their own country or a confederacy of states. (This is what Democrats did to protect the institution of slavery in the 1860s, which led to the Civil War.)
The survey of 1,001 likely voters found that only 38 percent of white Americans back secession (a number equal to last year), even as 47 percent of black Americans support secession, a climb from 43 percent in 2017.
One odd change is Hispanics. Last year, a majority of 51 percent of Hispanics backed secession. This year, that number has plummeted to just 34 percent.
Overall, as the poll points out that America is “only 12 points from a majority” supporting secession.
One counter-intuitive find in the poll shows that support for secession in the South is only 40 percent (down from 48 percent last year), while those in favor of secession in the Central/Great Lakes region jumped from 25 percent to 41 percent.
In the West, 40 percent of those polled backed secession, while only 35 percent of those in the Great Lakes backed it (down from 43 percent last year).
One important find is that while a majority of Americans do not back secession, a plurality does.
“[A] plurality of Americans agree with a state’s right to make a clean break from the Federal Government and go their own way,” the pollster writes, adding, “while just shy of one-third (32%) would support a military intervention to suppress a state’s attempt to break away.”
The 1,001 likely voters were asked the following:
Which of the following is closer to your view?
Statement A: If a majority of residents within a given state prefer to have the final say over their destiny without the control of Washington D.C., then let them have it – it is their right.
Statement B: If residents within a given state were to take such a drastic measure and secede from the United States, the Federal Government would be justified sending in the military to prevent secession from taking place.
While the demographic metrics inside the poll shifted from 2017 to 2018, the top number remained the same. Last year, a plurality of 39 percent supported secession; this year, a plurality of 39 percent support secession.
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