For first time, more Americans fault discrimination than self-motivation for white-black prosperity

[DonViejo]

By Scott Clement and
Emily Guskin March 20 at 8:00 AM

A record high share of nonblack Americans say the chasm between blacks’ and whites’ standards of living is due to discrimination against blacks, with fewer people blaming lack of will power, according to a long-running national survey released Tuesday.

The biennial General Social Survey found 41 percent of nonblack Americans in 2018 said discrimination was the main reason blacks “have worse jobs, income and housing” on average than white people, up from 30 percent who said this in 2014 and 38 percent in 2016. That level of concern is still far lower than it is with black Americans themselves, among whom 65 percent say discrimination is the main reason for the white-black prosperity gap, up 10 points in the past four years.

The survey, conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago, finds the share of adults who are not black blaming lack of motivation among blacks for racial disparities fell 10 percentage points to 35 percent over the same period. The 2018 survey marks the first time in four decades that more nonblack adults blamed discrimination than lack of motivation among blacks. A still-larger 49 percent of nonblacks faulted the racial gap on a lack of educational opportunities needed to rise out of poverty, a concern up nine points since 2014.



The shifts parallel a rise in concern about racial equality in the years after the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown in 2014 in Ferguson, Mo., which sparked protests over police treatment of black Americans across the country. Last year Congress passed and President Trump signed a sweeping criminal justice law aimed in part at curtailing punishments that were criticized for disproportionately affecting black Americans, and Democratic presidential candidates have focused on combating racial inequality with some encouraging a discussion of reparations for slavery.

more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/03/20/first-time-more-americans-fault-discrimination-than-self-motivation-white-black-prosperity-gap/?utm_term=.1ea27858279c

[Mister Ed]

1. A somewhat larger number of Americans are acknowledging the obvious.

I guess that's a small step forward and all, but...wow.

[lagomorph777]

2. I think we can thank Trump for this result.

By showing the extreme case of racist insanity, he's forcing a lot of people to re-consider their long-cherished racism.

[procon]

3. The charts show that little has changed over the past 40 years.

Where are the policies that are suppose to provide equal opportunities? Where are the plans to correct the inequality?