Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2023: UMass Amherst Poll Reveals Racism and Anti-Semitism Still Dangers

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Since 1619, when black slaves were first abducted from Africa and forced into slavery in America, race has divided people. Even today, more than 400 years after the first slave ships arrived on the East and Caribbean coasts, most Americans say they hate racism but at the same time oppose reparations for the descendants of slaves, according to a new poll from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Questions about attitudes toward African-American and Jewish citizens were asked by the university’s political science department with a survey conducted during the first week of January. The survey polled the attitudes of 1,000 people in the United States with a political, racial, and age sample roughly equal to current American demographics.

The poll result indicates that despite some progress in race relations, more needs to be done if the nation is to achieve true colorblind nation status, said Tatishe Nteta, senior professor of political science at UMass and director of the poll. . .

The poll found that 53% of respondents said they see white privilege, which benefits whites over non-whites in social, political or economic circumstances, in everyday America. Meanwhile, 62% said racism makes them angry because it still exists, and a majority of Americans say racism is neither rare nor isolated.

While many Americans speak out against racism and express their anger at its existence, their support for African Americans does not extend to reparations for the centuries of slavery that the ancestors of today’s African Americans endured. . Nteta said the movement to force the federal government to make due reparations payments is growing at the local, state and private levels. The UMass poll indicates that 57% of respondents between the ages of 18 and 29 support reparations for descendants of slaves.

That support drops to 42% among those aged 30 to 54 and just 22% among those over 55, for a total of 36% across all age groups, Nteta said.

On January 16, 1865, before the Civil War had even ended, Union General William Tecumseh Sherman issued Special Field Order No. 15, which provided that 40 acres of farmland along the coasts of the South Carolina, Georgia and Florida be given to each. household of freed slaves. In all, he pledged some 400,000 acres in reparation to freed slaves.

Later, a mule was added to the mix. Not that it mattered. It turned out that the slaves got neither the land nor the mule.

While the reparations movement has grown at the local, state and private levels, there has been little support from the federal government, Nteta said. The continued lack of public support for reparations likely explains the lack of legislative or presidential leadership on reparations, as 6 in 10 Americans voice opposition to a federal program. Four in 10 Americans say this is a policy the federal government absolutely should not pursue.

William Darity, an economics professor at Duke University, calculated the wealth gap between white and black families to use as a proxy for reparations. His calculations indicate that in 2019, black families had $840,000 less net worth than the average white household.

Descendants of slaves make up 12% of the country’s population but own less than 2% of the country’s wealth, Darity wrote.

According to Daritys estimates, the federal government owes black Americans $12 trillion, or a one-time payment of $800,000 for each black household.

The idea that the federal government would write a check for $800,000 to every black household nationwide seems absurd, but according to polls, very few Americans disagree with reparations on a financial basis. Only 6% said it was too expensive. Instead, most believe that black households do not deserve reparations for sins committed 150 years ago.

Darity argues that Germany paid reparations for the Holocaust and that the US government paid Japanese Americans for their incarceration in concentration camps during World War II.

Opposition to reparations appears to be based on the perception that reparations is a zero-sum racial policy, with African Americans winning at the expense of other racial groups, said Jesse Rhodes, a political science professor and co-director of the poll. Indeed, while whites are strongly opposed to reparations, so are strong majorities of Latinos and Asian Americans. This is a major challenge for proponents of reparations. As long as non-African Americans view the policy this way, it will be difficult to garner widespread support.

Last week, U.S. Representative James P. McGovern, D-Worcester, expressed support for the creation of a federal reparations commission to study the effects of the institution of slavery and make recommendations to Congress during a remote meeting attended by over 100 people. Amherst.

McGovern spent more than an hour listening and answering questions during the African Municipal Heritage Repair Assembly listening session. This was organized by the Amherst Board of Directors to get feedback from the community. The city’s seven-person assembly is considering ideas on how best to implement a reparations program that would eliminate structural racism in the city.

McGovern is among 196 co-sponsors of a bill called the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act. The legislation was introduced by U.S. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas.

Nteta said he sees reparations as dead in the water, with the current Republican majority in the House of Representatives.

The UMass poll also included questions about anti-Semitism. Ye, the entertainer formerly known as Kanye West, and NBA player Kyrie Irving both made national headlines and suffered major financial setbacks after making statements many viewed as anti-Semitic. On October 27, 2018, a 46-year-old man walked into the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh and shot and killed 11 people.

This follows years of increased anti-Semitic incidents, including vandalism, harassment and assaults in blue and red states, Nteta said. While many thought anti-Semitism was a thing of the past, our poll shows that a surprising number of Americans, on average, about 2 in 10 (20%) still hold negative and stereotypical views of American Jews.

The UMass poll indicates that respondents aged 18 to 29 show higher levels of anti-Semitism than older Americans, and African Americans expressed even more anti-Semitism than all other racial classes.

Nteta said his poll showed younger respondents tend to be much more tolerant of African Americans than older people, but not necessarily Jews.

This progressive race trend may not extend to attitudes toward American Jews, as a surprising number of young Americans support anti-Semitic views associated with the nations’ long history of stereotyping American Jews, he said. he said: “Specifically, about a quarter of young people (24%) think that Jews talk too much about the Holocaust, that Jews have too much power in business (26%) and that Jews think they are better than the others (26%).

The Great Replacement Theory can best be described as a far-right conspiracy theory by conservative political pundits on national television programs and alt-right politicians. He posits that the Democratic Party is fueling migration among brown and non-white immigrants into the country to dilute the voting power of presumably conservative white Americans.

Some have asked how popular these views are with the general public, Nteta said. Our results indicate that these views have moved from the fringe to the mainstream. On average, 3 in 10 Americans support some parts of this theory and, unsurprisingly, the theory is most popular among Republicans and conservatives with 55% of Republicans and 59% of conservatives believing that the growing number of immigrants to the United States United will hurt American culture and identity, and 68% Republicans and 71% Conservatives elected officials are trying to replace American voters with new immigrants.

Rhodes said he sees the animosity created by conspiracy theories such as the Replacement Theory leading to bullying and violence against immigrants and people of color.

A general conclusion from our findings is that a significant fraction of Americans, especially native-born whites, feel highly anxious and uncertain about demographic and political changes in the United States, he said. Some worry about what they see as cultural change, while others worry that increased racial, ethnic and cultural diversity will lead to a reduction in their political power.

It’s a harsh truth that these anxieties make some Americans more susceptible to racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism, Rhodes said. Our poll results underscore the need for political leaders to support both communities of color and vulnerable immigrants and to help those who fear demographic change understand how diversity strengthens the country and improves the lives of all.

The American Views on Race, Anti-Semitism and the Great Replacement Theory was conducted between January 5-9 and included approximately 1,000 respondents. Pollsters said the racial breakdown was about 60-65% white, 15% Latino and 10% African American. The balance was divided between the other ethnic groups, those who identified as biracial and those who refused to identify.

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