Whites/GOP Are An Impediment To Solving Racial Problems

The United States took a big step in the 1960's toward solving the serious racial problems in the United States -- by passing a trilogy of Civil Rights laws. Some people thought that was all that needed to be done. They were wrong. Our social institutions (police, schools, courts, workplaces, etc.) continued their practice of discrimination against minorities. Decent people knew that more needed to be done.

But the election of a Black president seemed to make the problems worse instead of better, because it brought the unrepentant racists back out from under their rocks. And the election of a racist president to follow them emboldened them further. Now we not only have the problem of institutional racism, but also a vocal base of racists who want to take the country back to a dark time of bitter inequality.

Why can;'t we solve the racial problem of discrimination and inequality in this country? The charts above tell us a lot to answer that question. Note that nearly half of all whites (49%) and about 66% of all Republicans actually believe the police treat minorities as well as they treat whites. And 54% of whites (and 70% of Republicans) think whites are discriminated against as much as minorities are.

Those are shocking numbers. How can such large percentages of whites and Republicans believe that? They must be willfully blind to believe the police treat whites and minorities equally. And the idea that giving minorities equal rights is somehow discriminating against whites is ludicrous. Equal rights is not a pie, and giving rights to one groups does not take them away from any other group. But I think these people know that. They just don't want to give up the advantage they have always enjoyed over minorities (i.e., white privilege) in this country.

We must have an honest and in-depth discussion of race and how to solve the nation's racial problems, and it is especially incumbent on whites to be honest in that discussion (examining and understanding the privilege they have always enjoyed at the expense of minorities). This could be a great nation that lived up to its potential and ideals -- but that will not happen until we honestly address the racism in the country.

The charts above reflect the results of a Public Religion Research Institute Poll -- done between April 11th and May 12th of this year of a random national sample of 3,455 adults, with a 2.5 point margin of error.