African American Voting on Proposition 187: Rethinking the Prevalence of Interminority Conflict

A growing literature suggests that interminority conflict is an increasingly important component of interethnic/interracial dynamics. Interminority conflict theory predicts: (1) the spatial proximity of ethnic/racial groups is directly related to animosity between the groups and (2) interminority animosity will be greatest among the poorest segments of the population. Using data from the 1994 Los Angeles Times California Exit Poll and the U.S. Census, I evaluate these hypotheses in the context of African American voting on California's Proposition 187. The data provide no support for the interminority conflict perspective. Proximity to significant Asian populations tended to reduce African American support for 187, while proximity to significant Hispanic populations had no impact on vote choice. Similarly, improvement in personal financial outlook was positively related to support for Proposition 187. These findings insinuate that interminority conflict—at the individual level—may by rarer than the interminority conflict literature suggests.