1/n Interestingly, an almost identical proportion of respondents (55%) gave this response in a 1988 AP poll.
The difference today is in the distribution of responses across different subgroups.
The difference today is in the distribution of responses across different subgroups.
2/n Specifically (I could graph but I'm lazy), ~59% of democrats and 55% of republicans selected 'yes' in 1988 as compared to 82% and 30%, respectively, in the 2020 WSJ poll.
3/n In other words, the parties have become more polarized/better sorted on race (which is an important reason why the awokening has been largely limited to Dems).
4/n I do not know whether these changes are statistically significant, but the proportion of blacks who say America is racist went up about 10 points (from ~68% in 1988 to 78% in 2020).
5/n The irony, of course, is that American society was probably far more racist in 1988 than it is in 2020.
6/n In a separate but contemporaneous (1988) poll, a majority of blacks (54%) thought that American society was becoming 'less racist'. I suspect that this sentiment has since shifted in the other direction.
