WASHINGTON – Amid a moment of national recognition on racial issues and the mourning of one of the country’s most revered civil rights leaders, new numbers from the NBC News / Wall Street Journal poll show that American voters have become Significantly more aware of racial discrimination and more sympathetic to those protesting to end it, even as the country remains deeply divided on the prevalence of intolerance and its root causes.
Survey reveals that voters in the United States are now more likely to say that people of color experience discrimination, describe athletes kneeling in protest of racial inequality, as appropriate, view the Black Lives Matter movement as a positive force, and support the elimination of Confederate Monuments in public spaces.
But at the same time, voters are deeply pessimistic about the current state of race relations, the country is strongly divided on whether racism is systemic or is only perpetrated by “bad apples,” and partisan identity remains an overwhelming predictor of how voters view experiences. of people of color and the current movement for greater racial equality.
The poll, which was conducted July 9-12, before the death of Representative John Lewis, D-Ga., The civil rights leader, found that the majority of voters, 56 percent, say the American society is racist, while 40 percent disagree. That turnout has hardly changed since The Associated Press found that 55 percent of voters said American society is racist in a July 1988 poll.
However, one thing that has changed dramatically is the opinion of voters on race relations. Only 26 percent say race relations are good, compared to more than 7 in 10 who said the same thing in multiple polls during then-President Barack Obama’s first term.
Seven out of 10 now say race relations are bad, including most Democrats (86 percent), Republicans (58 percent), white voters (69 percent), Hispanics (76 percent), and black voters ( 80 percent).
In the context of those grim evaluations of race relations, more voters now say they believe non-white Americans face discrimination.
In 2008, only 28 percent of voters said African Americans are discriminated against, while 51 percent said they were treated fairly and 16 percent said they received too many special benefits. But in this latest survey, the proportion that says African Americans experience discrimination has risen to 59 percent, with only 27 percent saying they are treated fairly and 10 percent saying they receive special benefits.
Just over half of all voters, 52 percent, now also say Hispanics are discriminated against, compared to just 27 percent who said the same thing in 2008.
About a third, 34 percent, say Asian Americans experience discrimination. That compares with 18 percent in 2000. (The 2008 survey did not measure attitudes about Asian Americans.)
And, for the first time, the survey also asked the same battery of questions about the treatment of white Americans. About 3 in 10 voters overall say that whites receive too many special privileges, while 53 percent say white Americans are treated fairly and 15 percent say they experience discrimination.
The 29 percent of voters who say whites receive too many special benefits include 23 percent of white voters, 55 percent of black voters, and 35 percent of Hispanic voters. It also includes 44 percent of white Democrats, but only 7 percent of white Republicans.
Despite the growing recognition of discrimination faced by racial minority groups in the United States, the country remains deeply divided on the root causes of racism.
Forty-six percent of voters say racism is embedded in American society, including the country’s policies and institutions, while 44 percent say racism is perpetrated only by people who have racist views.
Those who describe racism as systemic in American society include the majority of Democrats (70 percent), black voters (65 percent), and young voters (59 percent). Those who attribute racism solely to people’s behavior include 66 percent of Republicans and 48 percent of white voters.
“Where general voters and black voters disagree is the root cause of racism,” said Brenda Lee of Vision Strategy and Insights, who worked on the poll alongside Public Opinion Strategies and Hart Research. “Blacks are more likely to see systemic problems as the root of racism in the United States, while whites see this problem as the result of the behavior of” a few bad apples. “This difference in framework creates a schism in identifying the most appropriate and impactful solutions to tackle racism. ”
Support grows for elimination of Confederate statues, hymn protests
The poll reveals that the majority of voters support protesters who demonstrated after the murder of George Floyd, and a similar party says that the recent protest on discrimination against American blacks has caused them to reevaluate their own views.
57% of voters say they support Floyd’s protesters, while 32% oppose them.
The same turnout, 57 percent, says the movement has personally worried them more about racial inequality in the United States, while 41 percent says they haven’t worried anymore.
Attitudes toward the Black Lives Matter movement have generally improved since 2018, when 38 percent viewed it positively and 34 percent viewed it negatively. Now 49 percent of voters report positive views on the Black Lives Matter movement, while 33 percent view it negatively.
A small majority of voters, 52 percent, also say they believe it is appropriate for athletes to kneel during the national anthem to protest racial inequality, while 45 percent disagree. That’s a change from a similar survey in 2018, which found that 43 percent rated protests as appropriate and 54 percent rated them as inappropriate.
The shift in public opinion since 2018 on the removal of Confederate monuments from public spaces is even more dramatic. Two years ago, voters supported allowing Confederate statues to remain in a 2-1, 63 percent to 35 percent range, although a plurality supported the idea of adding plaques to monuments to add historical context.
Now 51 percent say the statues should be removed, while 47 percent disagree.
However, few voters, just 10 percent, support the total destruction of pro-Confederate structures after their removal. And an equally low proportion, 16 percent, wants those monuments to remain as they are.
Much more popular are two more moderate options; 41 percent say statues should be removed from public spaces and placed in museums, while 31 percent support keeping monuments where they are but adding plaques to offer historical context.
Republicans have moved little compared to the general electorate.
While this survey shows a significant movement toward greater recognition of racial discrimination and greater support for actions to address those disparities, one group stands out for the stability of its attitudes about race in the past 20 years.
While the proportion of those who say that African-Americans are discriminated against has increased by almost 50 points among Democrats and around 13 points among independents since 2000, the proportion of Republicans who say that African-Americans experience discrimination has remained largely unchanged, from only 23 percent in two decades. It does 26 percent now.
There were no changes from 2000 to now in Republican views on the treatment of Asian Americans, with only 12 percent at the time and now saying they are discriminated against.
The same is true of Republican views on the treatment of Hispanic Americans then and now. Only 17 percent now say Hispanic Americans experience discrimination, while 20 percent said the same thing in 2000.
The lack of change in Republican voters’ views on race is perhaps highlighted by another data point in the poll. The racial group that Republicans are most likely to believe faces discrimination, with 28 percent affirming that view, are white Americans.
The NBC News / Wall Street Journal poll was conducted July 9-12, 2020. The margin of error for 900 registered voters is +/- 3.27 percentage points.
