Poll: Majority Of White Americans Say They’re Victims Of Racial Discrimination
Apparently, “reverse discrimination” is real among whites.
Based on “alternate reality” results from a new poll — as one user on Twitter described the study — the majority of white Americans feels the heat of discrimination and says there is widespread bias against their race. The findings set off a heated debate on social media over race relations, prejudice, and what racial group has the right to make assertions of unfair treatment due to their skin color and economic standing.
NPR, in conjunction with the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, administered the new white discrimination survey. The results of the poll took researchers by surprise: more than half of white Americans (55 percent) said they face racial discrimination in one form or another.
While Caucasian respondents declared that they are victims of racism, a disproportionate number were unable to cite specific experiences that substantiate their claims of racial bias. For example, only 19 percent of whites polled professed they were discriminated against while seeking employment.
A mere 13 percent claimed that the discrimination took place when they were evaluated for a job promotion. Finally, for those applying for higher education at a university or college, the number is smaller still for those claiming white discrimination: 11 percent.
The authors of the poll said the results are statistically significant and the responses are inversely proportionate to the level of income. Whites that reported earning less income described more instances of discrimination.
Incredible alternate reality: 55% of white people in the US believe they face discrimination for being white lol https://t.co/LsOe67NPEW
— Abby Martin (@AbbyMartin) October 25, 2017
David Cohen works at the University of Akron as a political scientist. He suggested that the last presidential election is loosely connected to the results of the poll, and Donald Trump may have elicited feelings of isolation and bias among his base. Ostensibly, Trump’s economic message was a reverberating theme of his campaign, according to Cohen.
“I think this does reinforce a lot of the resentment you saw in the 2016 election, especially among white, working-class voters lacking a college degree.”
Cohen is a resident of Ohio, a bellwether state. According to USLegal, the term denotes a state that often predicts the winner of an election. It does so because it represents a cross-section of the American electorate or the heartbeat of the country. However, as UMN (Smart Politics) contends, the term is often subjective in nature.
Cohen resides in the northeast portion of the state that is represented heavily by Democrats, specifically “white, working-class union members.” Trump’s showing in the state was strong among Republicans. His final tally was 52 percent, eight points more than the field.
More than half of white Americans say there's discrimination against whites because of race. https://t.co/XHZtAaFC3N pic.twitter.com/eQTUwxnT1I
— NPR (@NPR) October 24, 2017
Among pundits and critics, Trump may have contributed to feelings of white discrimination by catering to working-class white voters. In turn, feelings of resentment may have resulted or bubbled to the surface, especially in the Rust Belt states, as Cohen considered.
“I’m not sure that he necessarily created this angst among white voters,” Cohen said, “but he certainly knew how to take advantage of it.”
The poll, “Discrimination in America: Experiences and Views of White Americans,” involved a total of 3,453 participants. Among them were 902 white respondents. Additionally, the study included African-American, Latino, Native American, and LGBTQ respondents.
Share your thoughts about “reverse” or white discrimination in America. Are you a victim? If so, explain below.
[Featured Image by Justin Merriman/Getty Images]
