Republicans and racism

The New York Times reports today on bigoted remarks from Republicans:

The racist discourse by Republican members of Congress, both in casual comments and in official statements, has become so commonplace that it now often slips by without any real condemnation from the G.O.P. Democrats frequently call for apologies but no longer expect any response, and those futile denunciations quickly disappear into a morass of polarized content on social media.

....The race-baiting comments resonate with Mr. Trump’s political coalition, which is 85 percent white in a country that is 59 percent white and becoming less so every day. Republicans in Congress have also sought to capitalize on the grievances of their base.

There's more to this than plain old anti-Black racism among the Republican base. Even among the relatively unbigoted, white Republicans are scared to death of being accused of racism. Take a look at this survey:

A full third of Republicans think racism against whites is a big problem and nearly three quarters think it's at least a moderate problem. This reflects several related fears. They're afraid that a stray remark could get them in trouble with HR. Or that a harmless (in their view) joke could get them ostracized. Or that affirmative action might cost them a job or promotion they deserve. They're afraid of young Black men but know they can't admit it. They're cynical about DEI training but feel they're not allowed to say so. And they're just not convinced that things are all that bad for Black people anyway nowadays.

These people generally don't approve of blatantly racist remarks, but they are tired of being forced participants in what they view as a racial charade that's way overblown. In the end, they're willing to tolerate racist overtones more than they're willing to tolerate Democrats who keep them in constant fear of setting a foot wrong with a "microaggression" or a "trigger."

Ferguson and George Floyd sparked this massive split between Democrats and Republicans on race issues. Take a look at this chart:

Republicans have always been less willing to spend money on Black assistance than Democrats. After Ferguson, though, they became a little more willing while Democrats became a lot more willing. However, that all disappeared after the Black Lives Matter protests following the George Floyd murder. Republicans thought things had gotten out of hand and returned to their old views. Democrats barely budged.

The result is a massive gap: only 13% of Republicans favor spending more on Black assistance while 70% of Democrats favor it. This is about the biggest partisan gap of any issue in America today. Even abortion isn't as polarized.

It's not easy to adjudicate this. Liberals believe that too many conservatives are just plain racist and won't admit it. Conservatives think liberals have taken identity politics way beyond the bounds of reason. But conservatives have always thought that, which makes it very hard to take them seriously this time around.

Still, that's the shape of the river these days. Education and race are the two biggest partisan identifiers in American politics today. Democrats are woke and college educated. Republicans didn't go to college and feel like they've been gaslit on race. This is where we're at.