Ahead of the upcoming 2024 presidential election, a new survey from Pew Research Center has reported on the opinions of registered voters regarding a number of cultural issues relevant to the United States. The survey includes data regarding both Democrats’ and Republicans’ views on racial diversity, the legacy of slavery’s effect on Black Americans, and the existence of racial disparities among Black and White Americans.
According to the survey results, 80 percent of Democrat-leaning voters agree the legacy of slavery still affects the position of Black people in today’s society and that White people benefit from advantages Black Americans do not have. In comparison, only a quarter of Republican voters agreed with the same statements. Notably, the share of Democrat voters who believe White people have more advantages than Black Americans has steadily decreased by nearly 10 percentage points over the past four years.
Similar disparities were seen among Black and White voters. Black voters were 50 percentage points more likely than White voters to agree White Americans benefit a great deal from advantages Black people do not have, at 66 percent and 16 percent, respectively. Roughly the same size gap was found among Black and White voters’ perception on the legacy of slavery’s effect on Black Americans.
About two-thirds of all voters agree that racial diversity is good for American society, with registered Democrats, voters with postsecondary degrees, and voters under age 30 more likely to hold that opinion. The large majority of both Democrat and Republican voters believe the decline in White people’s representation among United States citizens is neither good nor bad for society. However, Republican voters were more likely than Democrat voters to state a decline in America’s White population is bad for society, at 39 percent and 10 percent, respectively.
