Racism: On the Right and the Left

"Everyone knows that right wing conservatives are more racist than any other group."

Do you know the one thing wrong with that statement? There is absolutely no evidence to back it up. In fact, it is factually wrong and now there are several studies that prove it to be false.

Let me say it again - there are studies that demonstrate that racism is not associated with conservative political activity. In fact, racism is spread throughout the political spectrum. Unfortunately the usually reliable website of The Economist magazine has chosen to report on this with one of the most poorly written articles I have ever read from them. If you want to wade through it here is the link. 

I decided I had to go read the original research because if The Economist authors could write so poorly, who knew if they might have misinterpreted the data. They did not. While there is a tendency for people to slide towards racist attitudes as their income increases and there is the same tendency to move towards more conservative political positions as one climbs the wealth ladder; neither of those factors influence more than a very small minority of citizens.

Racism tends to be a product of upbringing both cultural and family influences. While a strong and direct liberal upbringing does indeed produce far fewer racist tendencies, as adults those who harbor racist sentiments are spread nearly equally between the two major political parties that dominate politics in the U.S.

I expect to hear from my conservative readers and friends on this one. I told you I am not on "their" side but you seem to miss that point whenever I stand up for you. Comments and emails will suffice, I don't expect cash or liquor.