If you’re still wondering how someone like Donald Trump was ever elected leader of the free world, you may not need to look any further than the issue of racism for the answer. Interestingly, a majority of white Americans believe discrimination exists against them — and that Trump is their last hope to save them.

Racism
According to a new poll conducted by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 55% of white Americans surveyed believe that “discrimination against white people exists in the US today.”

More than half of white Americans say there’s discrimination against whites because of race. https://t.co/XHZtAaFC3N pic.twitter.com/eQTUwxnT1I

— NPR (@NPR) October 24, 2017

Yes, despite more than 200 years of slavery and a separatists system built by their ancestors that still affects us today, white Americans are under the impression that they are somehow getting the short end of the stick in today’s society.  Surprisingly, 19% polled said they’ve “been personally discriminated against” because of their race when applying for jobs, while 11% said they experienced discrimination when applying to college. An additional 13% said they have been discriminated against on the job during consideration for equal pay and/or a promotion.

HUH???

Are these whites aware that they have always been and continue to be able to go anywhere they damn well please?  Have they ever been profiled by the police or trailed for miles simply because they were in a nice car or the “wrong” neighborhood?  Have they ever been hung from a tree because a white woman falsely accused them of rape??  Have they ever been told they can’t sit at this lunch counter, or use that bathroom, or drink from this water fountain, or sit in that seat on the bus??

(As an interesting side note, NPR said economic status seemed to “affect individual responses to the question of discrimination,” with those making less money “more likely to say that whites are discriminated against.”)

Racism
The poll numbers are not surprising.  The 8-year presidency of America’s first black president combined with the continued “browning” of America has many whites shaking in their boots.  They see their centuries-long stranglehold on the US rapidly slipping away and they don’t like it.  Additionally, lower-income whites without higher educations are fearing they’ll have nothing to fall back on as modern times diminish the importance of coal, steel, and other blue-collar jobs they regularly need to survive.

The belief of “white discrimination” is deeply responsible for electing Donald Trump and for the “White Lives Matter” march on Charlottesville, VA this past July. Trump’s response that “there were good people on both sides” also fueled the theory and gave those who feel threatened a glimmer of hope.

The “Discrimination in America” series also surveyed African-Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, Asian Americans and LGBTQ adults, who were each asked about their “own personal experiences with discrimination.” Not surprisingly, 92% of African-Americans surveyed said that they believe “that discrimination against African-Americans exists in America today,” while 78% of Latinos said the same discrimination exists against Latinos. Approximately 75% of Native Americans, 61% of Asian Americans and 90% of people who identify as LGBTQ said that discrimination against their groups exists in America.

The poll was conducted January 26-April 9, 2017 and surveyed 3,453 adults, of which 902 were white.

So, what do you think?  Are whites legitimately discriminated against, or are they under some misguided assumption that because nowadays they are not always catered to or in complete control of the country that somehow that equates to discrimination?

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White Americans say they feel racism.