A clear majority of American voters now believe U.S. society is racist. This represents a significant trend as protests against the treatment of African Americans continue.
AÂ Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds that 56% of Americans think the country is racist, while a staggering 71% believe race relations are bad at the moment.
Brenda Lee is a pollster who worked on the poll. She thinks George Floyd’s death has affected public attitudes.
“Americans are concerned about issues of inequality, and George Floyd’s death helped contribute to that,” Lee said.
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“We’ve moved the needle a great deal in terms of just clearly identifying that we, as Americans, have an issue with racism in this society.”
However, there are major partisan differences on the issue of race – a fact that’s been evident in many similar polls.
While 90% of Democrats believe African Americans are discriminated against, just 26% of Republicans agree.
Republicans are also far less likely to think the country is racist. Just 30% believe that it is, compared to 82% of Democratic respondents.
The survey also showed that a majority of voters – 57% – support the protests sparked by Floyd’s death. These numbers will not be welcome news to President Donald Trump’s campaign.
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Darragh Roche is a journalist covering U.S. politics and media
