WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd November, 2019) Americans are more than twice as likely to think that discrimination happens to blacks as opposed to whites with Democratic party members particularly believing that people of color are targeted more for prejudice, a Pew Research Center poll revealed.
"Americans are more than twice as likely to say there is at least some discrimination against blacks in the US (77 percent) as they are to say this about whites (36 percent)," a statement accompanying the poll said on Friday. "Most Democrats say blacks face more discrimination than whites; Republicans are more divided."
Publishing findings from a Sept 3-15 study, the think-tank said Americans continue to see widespread discrimination against a number of groups in the United States, including Muslims, gays and lesbians, Hispanics, women, and Jews, as well as blacks.
When opinions about discrimination against blacks and whites are combined, 49 percent of the public says that blacks face a lot or some discrimination and whites face little or no prejudice.
"But these opinions differ substantially along partisan lines: Far larger shares of Democrats than Republicans say there is a lot or some discrimination against blacks and little or no discrimination against whites," the findings said.
Roughly a quarter of Americans (28 percent) say both blacks and whites face at least some discrimination, while a smaller share says there is little or no discrimination against either racial group (14 percent). About one-in-ten Americans (8 percent) say there is at least some discrimination against whites, but little or no discrimination against blacks.
Democrats are less likely than Republicans to say there is at least some discrimination against evangelical Christians, whites and men.
As in the past, there are wide partisan divides in perceptions of discrimination against most of the groups included in the survey. Republicans are less likely than Democrats to say there is a lot of or some discrimination against Muslims, gays and lesbians, blacks, Hispanics, women and Jews.
The predominant view among Democrats - expressed by 73 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents - is that there is a lot or some discrimination against blacks and little or no discrimination against whites.
"By contrast, only about a quarter of Republicans (23 percent) share these views," the think-tank's statement said. "A larger share (38 percent) says there is a lot or some discrimination against both races; 22 percent say both blacks and whites face little or no discrimination; and 17 percent say whites face at least some discrimination, but blacks do not."
Overall, the survey finds little change in attitudes about discrimination against most groups since March. Large majorities continue to say that Muslims (83 percent), gays and lesbians (79 percent), blacks and Hispanics (77 percent each), women (68 percent) and Jews (66 percent) face a lot or some discrimination in the United States.
