A strong majority (91%) of Americans believe everyone, regardless of race or ethnicity, deserves an equal opportunity to succeed.

However, about four in ten Americans, including 61% of Republicans, believe efforts to combat racism are making life more difficult for white Americans

Policies to address racism such as expanding higher ed access and teaching about race and racism in schools receive majority support, reparations are less popular

Two-thirds of Americans believe religious and spiritual people, leaders, and communities should speak up about racism and advocate for policies to address it

June 15, 2023 – While Americans agree on the principle of racial equality, Democrats and Republicans differ in their views on racism, its impact on people of color, and the impact on white people of efforts to combat it, according to a new report from Public Agenda.

FULL REPORT HERE

This report features findings from a national survey, supported by the Fetzer Institute, that sought to understand similarities and differences in views on racism and racial justice among people of varying degrees of religiosity and spirituality and across the political spectrum. The report builds on previous Public Agenda research that examined how religion and spirituality, partisanship, and public life intersect.

“The concept of equal opportunity is deeply rooted in our history and has been a rallying cry for America’s great liberation movements, so it’s significant that it remains a shared value,” said Andrew Seligsohn, President of Public Agenda. “At the same time, we cannot ignore the fact that there are significant differences among Americans in how they understand what the principle means in practice. Nonetheless, this report shows that identities that Americans share, notably religious and spiritual identities, can be the foundation for finding common ground on the impact of racism and how to address it.”

“This report contains an important nudge for people of all faith traditions to approach racial equity in a brand new way,” said Bob Boisture, President and CEO of Fetzer Institute. “Love calls us to not only express what we believe about racial equality and shared flourishing, but to do the hard inner and relational work that lead us into healing and repair. Working from the heart of our various faith traditions and spiritual paths, we can approach racial justice from a more spiritually-grounded, constructive perspective, rather than from the zero-sum game of identity politics.”

Key Takeaways:

• Americans agree on the principle of racial equality: A 91% majority of Americans say all people deserve an equal opportunity to succeed, no matter their race or ethnicity – including 93% of
• Asian Americans, 92% of white Americans, 86% of Black Americans, and 85% of Latinos.
  • This basic principle is widely held across political affiliations, races and ethnicities, and by people with different degrees of religiosity and spirituality
• But Democrats and Republicans differ in their views on whether racism makes it more difficult for people of color to succeed: Among Democrats, 82% believe that racism makes it more difficult for people of color to succeed, nearly double the share of Republicans (45%) who believe so.
• Americans who identify as largely spiritual are particularly likely to believe that racism makes it more difficult for people of color to succeed.
• Meanwhile, 61% of Republicans believe that efforts to combat racism are making life more difficult for white Americans, compared to 31% of Democrats.
• More than 80% of Democrats but less than half of Republicans believe that racism is a serious problem at both individual and system levels.
  • People who are largely spiritual are particularly likely to believe that racism is both an individual and systemic problem.

• Many say that accusations of racism are too common: Over three-quarters (77%) of Americans believe it is a serious problem that people are too quick to accuse others of racism – including 79% of white Americans, 77% of Latino Americans, 76% of Asian Americans, and slightly fewer (68%) Black Americans.
  • Black Americans are less likely than the aforementioned groups to say this is a serious problem (68%).
  • Republicans and people who identify as both religious and spiritual are especially likely to see accusations of racism as a serious problem.

• Most Americans believe that religious and spiritual people, leaders, and communities should speak up about racism and advocate for policies to address it: 50% of Americans believe that religious leaders and communities have roles to play in overcoming racism, and a similar 47% believe that and spiritual leaders and communities have roles to play in overcoming it.
  • Seven in ten Americans support both religious and spiritual leaders and communities speaking up against racism.
  • About two-thirds of Americans believe:
  • Religious people and spiritual people have a responsibility to speak up against racism
  • Religious and spiritual leaders and communities should advocate for policies to overcome racism
• Policies to address racial equality such as expanding higher ed access and education curriculum diversity receive majority support; reparations are less popular: Nearly two-thirds (65%) of Americans believe that overcoming racism requires changes in laws and institutions as well as in individual attitudes. Democrats, largely spiritual people, and people of color are especially likely to think overcoming racism requires both types of change.
  • 59% of Americans say it is a serious problem that elected officials are not doing enough to ensure that Black, Latino, Asian, and Native Americans are treated fairly, including far more Democrats than Republicans and more people of color than white people.
  • Nearly three-quarters (73%) of Americans believe that individuals have roles to play in overcoming racism. Fewer believe that any institution has a role to play in overcoming racism. For example, 56% of Americans believe that national and local governments have a role to play in overcoming racism.
  • Majorities of Americans overall support a range of policies to address institutional racism:
    • Expanding higher education access for students of color (68%)
    • Educating K-12 students about the racism that people of color face (61%)
    • Investing in communities of color affected by climate change (54%)
    • Financially compensating Native Americans for their ancestors’ land (54%)
    • Democrats, spiritual people, and people of color are more supportive of these measures than other groups.
• However, Americans are less supportive of reparations: 41% back financially compensating Black Americans whose ancestors were enslaved.
  • There is a significant partisan and racial divide:
    • 60% of Democrats support reparations, compared with 40% of Independents & 21% of Republicans
    • 72% of Black Americans support reparations, compared with 55% of both Asian and Latino Americans, and only 29% of white Americans
    • 51% of people who are largely spiritual support reparations compared to 43% of largely religious people, 37% of people who are both religious and spiritual, and 39% of people who are neither religious nor spiritual

To read the full report, visit here.

Any references to the survey must be credited and linked back to Public Agenda. Questions or requests can be directed to press@publicagenda.org.

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About Public Agenda

Public Agenda is a national research-to-action organization that digs deep into the key challenges facing our democracy to uncover insights and solutions. We engage with advocates, journalists, policymakers, and the philanthropic community to ensure public voice is heard in conversations that shape our shared future.The organization was founded in 1975 by the social scientist and public opinion research pioneer Dan Yankelovich and former secretary of state Cyrus Vance.

To read the full report, visit here.

Any references to the survey must be credited and linked back to Public Agenda. Questions or requests can be directed to press@publicagenda.org.

###

About Public Agenda

Public Agenda is a national research-to-action organization that digs deep into the key challenges facing our democracy to uncover insights and solutions. We engage with advocates, journalists, policymakers, and the philanthropic community to ensure public voice is heard in conversations that shape our shared future.The organization was founded in 1975 by the social scientist and public opinion research pioneer Dan Yankelovich and former secretary of state Cyrus Vance.

Methodology in Brief

This report summarizes findings from a nationally representative survey of 2,788 adult Americans 18 years and older. The survey was designed by Public Agenda and fielded February 28 to March 3, 2023, by Ipsos. Respondents completed the survey online in English. The survey has a credibility interval of plus or minus 2.3 percentage points for all respondents. Credibility intervals are greater for population subgroups. The sample was randomly drawn from Ipsos’s online panel, partner online panel sources, and “river” sampling. Ipsos calibrates respondent characteristics to be representative of the U.S. population using standard procedures such as raking-ratio adjustments. The source of these population targets is U.S. Census 2019 American Community Survey data. Post-hoc weights were made to the population characteristics on gender, age, race and ethnicity, region, and education. Political affiliation benchmarks are drawn from recent high-quality telephone polls.

For a complete methodology and topline with full question wording, visit this page.

This report summarizes findings from a nationally representative survey of 2,788 adult Americans 18 years and older. The survey was designed by Public Agenda and fielded February 28 to March 3, 2023, by Ipsos. Respondents completed the survey online in English. The survey has a credibility interval of plus or minus 2.3 percentage points for all respondents. Credibility intervals are greater for population subgroups. The sample was randomly drawn from Ipsos’s online panel, partner online panel sources, and “river” sampling. Ipsos calibrates respondent characteristics to be representative of the U.S. population using standard procedures such as raking-ratio adjustments. The source of these population targets is U.S. Census 2019 American Community Survey data. Post-hoc weights were made to the population characteristics on gender, age, race and ethnicity, region, and education. Political affiliation benchmarks are drawn from recent high-quality telephone polls.

For a complete methodology and topline with full question wording, visit this page.