Just how racist is the MAGA movement? This survey measures it.
A Trump supporter holds a Confederate flag outside the Senate chamber after
rioters breached the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
By Jennifer Rubin
September 28, 2022
It has long been understood that the MAGA movement is heavily dependent on
White grievance and straight-up racism. (Hence Donald Trump�s refusal to
disavow racist groups and his statement that there were �very fine people
on both sides� in the violent clashes at the white-supremacist rally in
Charlottesville.)
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Now, we have numbers to prove it.
The connection between racism and the right-wing movement is apparent in a
new poll from the Public Religion Research Institute. The survey asked
respondents about 11 statements designed to probe views on racism. For
example: �White Americans today are not responsible for discrimination
against Black people in the past.� The pollsters then used their answers to
quantify a �structural racism index,� which provides a general score from
zero to 1 measuring a person�s attitudes on �white supremacy and racial
inequality, the impact of discrimination on African American economic
mobility, the treatment of African Americans in the criminal justice
system, general perceptions of race, and whether racism is still
significant problem today.� Higher scores indicate a more receptive
attitude to racist beliefs.
The results shouldn�t surprise anyone paying attention to the MAGA crowd�s
rhetoric and veneration of the Confederacy. �Among all Americans, the
median value on the structural racism index is 0.45, near the center of the
scale,� the poll found. �The median score on the structural racism index
for Republicans is 0.67, compared with 0.45 for independents and 0.27 for
Democrats.� Put differently, Republicans are much more likely to buy into
the notion that Whites are victims.
The poll also found that the religious group that makes up the core of
today�s GOP and MAGA movement has the highest structural racism measure
among the demographics it surveyed: �White evangelical Protestants have the
highest median score, at 0.64, while Latter-day Saints, white Catholics,
and white mainline Protestants each have a median of 0.55. By contrast,
religiously unaffiliated white Americans score 0.33.� This is true even
though Whites report far less discrimination toward them than racial
minorities do.
The survey also captured just how popular the �Lost Cause� to rewrite the
history of the Civil War and downplay or ignore the evil of slavery is on
the right: �Republicans overwhelmingly back efforts to preserve the legacy
of the Confederacy (85%), compared with less than half of independents
(46%) and only one in four Democrats (26%). The contrast between white
Republicans and white Democrats is stark. Nearly nine in 10 white
Republicans (87%), compared with 23% of white Democrats, support efforts to
preserve the legacy of the Confederacy.�
Americans who fully support reforming Confederate monuments have a much
lower structural racism index score, while those who oppose it have a much
higher score. The same is true when it comes to renaming schools honoring
individuals who supported slavery and racial discrimination or changing
racist mascots.
Those who want to keep Confederate monuments and offensive mascots in place
might deny that their views have anything to do with bigotry, but then
again, they often deny the legacy of racism and paint Whites as victims,
too. In general, MAGA forces have one goal when they amplify �replacement
theory� or fuss over corporations promoting inclusivity: to maximize White
anger and resentment.
Robert P. Jones, who leads PRRI, tells me, �While this result may seem
surprising or even shocking to many White Christians, it is because we do
not know our own history. If we take a clear-eyed look at our history, we
see a widespread, centuries-long Christian defense of white supremacy.� He
adds, �For example, every major Protestant Christian denomination split
over the issue of slavery in the Civil War, with Methodists, Episcopalians,
Presbyterians, and Baptists in the South all breaking fellowship with their
Northern brethren.� Given that history, Jones says, �it�s hardly a surprise
that a denial of systemic racism is a defining feature of White
evangelicalism today.�
The PRRI poll shows the MAGA movement has done a solid job convincing the
core of the GOP base that they are victims. And let�s be clear: An
aggrieved electoral minority that believes it has been victimized and is
ready to deploy violence is a serious threat to an inclusive democracy.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/28/racism-survey-prri-maga-republicans/
Feeble Old tRUMP'S MAGA Movement Made Up of White Trash Racist Dirtbags & Wife Beaters