Ebony poll reveals: sizzling stars and issues of '95

The reigning icons of contemporary Black culture--Oprah Winfrey, Bill Cosby, Maya Angelou, Halle Berry, Whitney Houston and Denzel Washington--continued their winning ways in EBONY's annual readers poll of the hottest people and issues of the year, but a number of younger personalities made striking gains.

Among the fastest rising new stars, according to our readers, is Toni Braxton, who finished second behind Halle Berry in the most beautiful woman category and second behind Whitney Houston in the best female singer of the year division. Also scoring high were TV stars Queen Latifah and Martin Lawrence and actress Jada Pinkett.

And these are just some of the many areas of consensus in EBONY's 1995 poll. Almost 10,000 readers responded to 54 questions that appeared in our March 1995 issue. The results were tabulated by the independent Market Facts research agency.

While respondents' views on some issues are diverse, there are many areas in which the poll results indicate most see eye to eye:

* Violence is the No. 1 concern, then drugs and unemployment.

* Stricter gun control is desired.

* Nine out of 10 believe in God.

* Favorite music is Rhythm & Blues.

"In general, Blacks tend to be more united on more issues than other racial groups," says Dr. Robert Staples, a visiting sociology lecturer at Howard University. Blacks "tend to be more impacted in similar ways solely because of their skin color."

But similarity doesn't mean sameness. The poll results, maybe more than anything else, highlight how sophistiacated complex our readers are. After all, who would have thought in the age of television stars, Hollywood icons and business moguls that a woman poet would be chosen the living legend, man or woman, most admired. Twenty-eight percent of the respondents listed Maya Angelou, followed by Rosa Parks (24 percent) and Oprah Winfrey (13 percent). When asked solely about men most admired, Bill Cosby led (25 percent), followed by Gen. Colin Powell (22 percent) and the Rev. Jesse Jackson (11 percent).

And almost all respondents (97 percent) have a strong opinion on the murder trial of the century. Forty-one percent say Simpson already has endured enough and that no matter what the outcome is, his career and life MAD be ruined. Twenty-seven percent predicted he will be cleared of all charges while 29 percent predicted he will serve time.

In the field of entertainment, Queen Latifah is the top female television star year. The most pressing issue facing the Black community continues to be violence (37 percent), followed by drugs (21 percent) and unemployment (20 percent). AIDS finished sixth with 7 percent. But almost all readers (98 percent) say they are more aware, concerned and fearful of AIDS now than five years ago.

Fifty-six percent say the best way to handle drug dealers is to give them rehabilitation and sentence them to work in the communities where they sold drugs, but 28 percent say drug dealers should get life imprisonment and 9 percent say they should receive death sentences for their actions.

Views on interracial dating vary among males and female respondents. While 36 percent of females say they would never date someone outside their race, only 23 percent of the males responded in that fashion. And more than twice as many men (13 percent) as women (6 percent) say they enjoy dating people of different races.

Our readers' outlook on the future of racism is optimistic, but not overly so. Fifty-six percent of those surveyed say that in the next 50 years, race relations will improve, but racism will still exist; 19 percent say it will remain the same; 22 percent say it will get worse and only 2 percent say it will be eradicated.

As for the state of Black organizations, such as the Urban League and the NAACP, 62 percent say the groups are pillars of the Black community and are changing with changing times. But 35 percent say they are old bureaucracies that have done little--if anything--in modern times to better the state of Black America.

On President Clinton's performance on issues important to Black America, 65 percent think he is (27 percent), followed by Cicely Tyson (24 percent). Bill Cosby is the top male television star, according to 25 percent of respondents, while Martin Lawrence is a close second with 21 percent.

The hottest music groups are Boyz II Men and Bebe & Cece Winans. The hottest male vocalists are Luther Vandross (33 percent) and Barry White (20 percent), while the hottest female singer is Whitney Houston (24 percent), followed by Toni Braxton (20 percent).

Denzel Washington led the "most handsome Black man in America" category with 48 percent of the vote. The next closest was Babyface, with 7 percent of the vote, and Michael Jordan with 6 percent.

And while our readers didn't think Barry White and George Foreman were the most handsome men in America, they did give it up for the lover and the fighter, naming the two big men the best comeback personalities of 1994.

Here are other poll highlights:

Denzel Washington, with 33 percent, is the man women readers say they would most like to spend an evening with, followed by Wesley Snipes (11 percent) and Laurence Fishburne (9 percent).