Politics

Most Trump Voters Don’t Think It’s Racist To Limit Immigration For Cultural Reasons

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Justin Caruso Contributor
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A new study shows stark divisions among Americans on attitudes about racism and immigration.

A recently published report by the London School of Economics titled, “Is tribalism racist? Antiracism norms and immigration,” was written by political scientist Eric Kaufmann.

In the study, Kaufmann gathers data and analyzes the relationship between ethnic tribalism and racism, specifically, whether or not they are the same thing.

Kaufmann writes, “…new survey data suggests this hinges on a fundamental difference of opinion in western societies between highly-educated liberals, who consider the ethno-communal desire to reduce immigration racist, and conservatives, who don’t. This matters greatly because to be racist is, for most people, to be immoral – transgressing the social norms which define good and evil.”

He concluded that there is a link between one’s view of immigration restriction and whether or not one thinks it’s “racist for a member of the ethnic majority to want less immigration to help maintain their group’s population share.”

One of the more notable polls mentioned in the article asks white Clinton voters and white Trump voters whether or not it is racist for a white person to want to lower immigration for “ethnocultural reasons.”

Over 72 percent of white Clinton voters agreed it is racist to think that. However, that number dropped when the same question was asked to minority Clinton voters, as only 58.3 percent of that group said such a desire was racist.

The number for white Clinton voters saying lowering immigration for “ethnocultural reasons” also increased with higher education.

Among white Trump voters, the numbers were quite different. Only 11.2 percent of white Trump voters believed such a thing was racist. Among Trump voters with postgrad degrees that number went up to 26.1 percent. Most of Trump’s voters were white.

However, among Trump voters with less than a high school education, only 5.5 percent said that was racist.

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