People on the margins believe in conspiracies

Among the significant trends in the latest study of anti-government anger by the Scripps Survey Research Center at Ohio University is that racial and ethnic minorities are especially likely to suspect federal involvement in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

A survey of 1,010 adult residents of the United States conducted by telephone last month found that 67 percent of black Americans believe it is "somewhat likely" or "very likely" that "people in the federal goverment" in some way assisted in the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Only 29 percent of whites believe this. Among Hispanics, about 46 percent belief in federal involvement.

Attitudes also break along income lines. Sixty-one percent of people living in households with incomes of $25,000 or less believe in a 9/11 conspiracy, compared to only 22 percent in households earning $100,000.