Categorical Denial

The new Pew Research Center study on America's political ideology is a fascinating read, finding that the country is far from just a red/blue dynamic.  The Pew study finds eight different categories of American voters, ranging from Steadfast Conservatives to Solid Liberals to Bystanders who don't vote or care about politics at all (and a quiz to find out where you fit) based on responses to 23 questions.

Vox's Max Fisher discovered something rather depressing however.  One of those questions involves blacks and discrimination, and the numbers are pretty breathtaking: 63% of Americans believe that blacks who can't get ahead have only themselves to blame, including majorities of 6 of Pew's 7 categories of American voters.

A wide majority of Americans say that, if black people are struggling to advance in society, then it is primarily their fault and not because of discrimination. That's the majority view for some types of liberals but is far, far more common among conservatives. Over 80 percent of conservatives say they agree that "Blacks who can't get ahead are mostly responsible for their own condition," while just some seven percent say that "Racial discrimination is the main reason why many black people can't get ahead these days." 

That's based on Pew pollsters asking Americans which of those two statements they agree with more. Nationally, 63 percent say "blacks who can't get ahead are mostly responsible for their own condition" versus 27 percent who say "racial discrimination is the main reason why many black people can't get ahead these days." That's more than two-to-one.

 Here's the chart:

Only Solid Liberals, which make up 15% of Americans, believe discrimination is still the main reason why African-Americans who can't get ahead are unable to do so. When it comes to the two groups of Millennial voters (libertarian-leaning Young Outsiders and socially liberal Next Generation Left) who together account for 26% of America, only about one in seven believe discrimination is more of a factor than lack of hard work.

Solid Liberals on the other hand overwhelmingly believe that discrimination is still a problem.  That's because, as Fisher points out, it still is.

The Atlantic's Ta-Nehisi Coates, in his recent cover story "The Case for Reparations," wrote about the popular American fiction that the age of widespread discrimination against black people is over in American, as are its effects. Because, even though it is widely perceived as fact by American conservatives and even liberals, it is a fiction. 

In fact, not only does discrimination continue today, but the consequences of two centuries of slavery and one century of explicit white supremacy still directly impact and hold back black families.

The evidence is there, but of course talking about it remains taboo.