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Conducted every two years, the General Social Survey is a widely-respected poll that tracks Americans’ attitudes about a variety of topics, including race, government, and religion.
The latest results have been released, and Americans’ attitudes about race and government spending have changed DRAMATICALLY
A majority of Americans - the most ever recorded since the first survey in 1974 - believe that the government spends “too little” to “improve conditions” of Black Americans.
Surprisingly, there were increases across all political parties, including Republicans - with the highest increases among Democrats, especially white liberals
Another significant finding: more Americans than ever understand that disparities in income, jobs and housing are due to discrimination, rather than “lack of motivation or will.” Of course, we have known this forever, but the rest of the country is finally catching up
Analysts suggest that better media coverage of things like police brutality and inequities in the criminal justice system, as well as the shockingly overt racism of President Donald Trump, have helped shift attitudes
The survey does NOT indicate that most Americans support reparations in the form of a direct payment to descendants of those enslaved.
But with 2020 Democratic Presidential candidates such as Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, and Cory Booker putting reparations-like policies on their platforms, could we see a reparations check in our mailboxes soon? Only time will tell.