How to understand Trumpās condemnation of āall types of racismā
by
Philip Bump
There is an idea, prevalent among some groups, that white Americans face systematic discrimination thatās comparable to ā if not worse than ā the racial discrimination faced by other groups. A Public Religion Research Institute poll conducted in May 2017 found that ā[m]ore than half (52 percent) of white working-class Americans believe discrimination against whites is as big a problem as discrimination against blacks and other minorities.ā Among working-class Americans aged 65 and older, nearly 6 in 10 held that view.
A Post-ABC News poll conducted in March 2016 asked people which was the bigger problem: blacks and Hispanics losing out because of preferences for whites or
whites losing out because of preferences for blacks and Hispanics. A plurality of Americans said the former.
By a 2-to-1 margin, though, Trump voters said the latter was the bigger problem.
Another poll conducted in October found that
55 percent of white Americans think thereās discrimination against white people in America today. A HuffPost/YouGov poll conducted in 2016
found that Trump voters were more likely to believe that white people faced a lot of discrimination than they were to say that Muslim or black people did.
This sense of aggrievement is not exclusive to the white working class or to Trump voters, of course. Itās also a theme that runs through racist and white-nationalist rhetoric. A sense that white Americans are disadvantaged or being held to stricter, more exacting standards than other groups is central to the perceived need to protect white Americans, which is, fundamentally, what white nationalism is about. Weāve heard this rhetoric
a lot of late, this idea that white America needs to be defended. At the heart of that assertion is the idea that whites are under fire ā an idea that is definitionally centered in racism. In this case, the sort of āreverse racismā measured in the polls above.
Analysis | How to understand Trumpās condemnation of āall types of racismā