It should surprise no one that Republicans love to push the lie that white Americans are victims of racism. However, new research proves just how mythical that talking point is.
According to a YouGov poll commissioned by Yahoo News in July, nearly three quarters of Americans stated that racism was a small problem for Black people, while less than half made similar remarks about white Americans.
But along party lines, the answers shifted. A third of Republicans polled said that racism was not only a problem, but a huge one—for white folks. In addition, 7 in 10 said it was a small problem for white people which means Republicans think white suffer more from discrimination than any other group.
Last year, YouGov conducted similar research in conjunction with the Economist. At that time, a third of participants said white folks face some discrimination. Of course, Republicans were more likely to state white Americans deal with racism more than Black folks.
When KFF asked Americans about their experiencing discrimination, they found that “at least half of [American Indian and Alaska Native], Black, and Hispanic adults and about four in ten Asian adults say they have experienced at least one type of discrimination in daily life at least a few times in the past year.”
In addition, the survey found that white people were less likely than other members of racial groups to say that they experienced negative responses from other people. Only 6 percent believe race was the reason for the negative interaction compared to 4 in 10 Black folks who believe the bad treatment was partly because of race.
Though Republicans will continue to insist that white people are the real victims of racism, it is simply nothing more than a ploy to devalue what people of color face in this country. Sadly, for them this rhetoric is nothing new.