The myth of a post-racial America

Over the past few decades, scholars and political pundits have debated whether race and ethnicity matter to American politics.

During this period, we have witnessed the election of an African-American president, the nomination of a Latina Supreme Court justice, and the wider political representation of racial and ethnic minorities than ever before. This has led many to claim that the US is now a colour-blind political society. But the empirical evidence that is available on the matter suggests the opposite. Given the fact that ethnicity and racism remain strong social forces in American society, there are no grounds for such optimism.

According to a 2015 CNN survey, 49 percent of Americans believe that racism is “a big problem” in today’s America. Bernie Sanders was right when he said that the US was founded on racist grounds. However, what is more troubling is that the systemic racism of America’s past is still alive and kicking.

Race and other social cleavages continue to play a critical role in every aspect of US politics and society. The view that the US is a post-racial society has been challenged on many fronts since Trump’s election. Nearly 60 million US citizens voted for a candidate who looks at the world through ethnic and racial stereotypes. Trump wants to ban Muslims and other immigrants from entering the US and it is crystal clear that America’s white working class tacitly approves of his anti-Muslim agenda. Muslims are considered pariahs in the US and are therefore viewed with suspicion.

In the post-9/11 era, the cultural atmosphere of fear and paranoia has created a new generation of Americans who do not have a favourable opinion of Muslims. This trend is particularly evident on university campuses in the southern states of the US, where Muslim students are treated like ‘outsiders’. This loathsome behaviour is symptomatic of the deep-seated racism in the country.

In 2008, many experts heralded the historic election of Obama as the dawn of a post-racial era in American politics. However, the election results showed that only 43 percent of white people voted for Obama, giving a strong impression of a society polarised along racial lines.

Race relations in the US have evolved over time as a result of gradual changes in intergroup relations within society. There are instances when the role of race in politics appears minimal, whereas, in other circumstances, racial segregation seems to pervade every aspect of US politics.

Discussions over the extent to which race shape political behaviour at both the elite and mass levels remain central to the study of the US government. Despite the widespread scholarly consensus that such factors should not impact politics, race continues to play a crucial role in determining the electoral choices made by a large number of voters.

A critical number of studies recommend that race is a significant force at work with regard to the shifting partisan alliances since the mid-1960s. In the wake of the civil rights movement in the US, political parties had to take clear and distinctive positions on civil rights issues, leading to significant party alignments along both racial and social lines. Gradually, the Republican Party emerged as the white man’s party and Democrats gained more support from African-American and women voters. More than 80 percent of the black vote usually goes to the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate.

The existence of wide inter-regional differences of opinion on racial issues in marriage also yields strong evidence of ethnic cleavages among the American people. These regional differences have been nourished over time by the prevalence of racial stereotypes from generation to generation in the south. This is exactly why young, white, southern Americans are found to be more racially conservative than young people in other states. Similarly, lifelong southerners are always more racially conservative than immigrants to the southern states from other parts of the country.

Many political scientists have found empirical evidence to suggest that race is a decisive factor in the political choices made by American voters. Evidence collected over several decades suggests that black and white voters prefer voting for candidates of their own race when both black and white candidates are contesting elections. Despite repeated calls for racial equality, it is still rare for African-American candidates to be elected outside of majority-minority districts.

Racial attitudes among whites are an important explanatory factor for their lack of electoral support for black candidates. White voters are always more likely to support white candidates. Darker-skinned black candidates receive less support from white Americans than ‘lighter-skinned’ blacks.

The impact of racial attitudes on policy opinions becomes more critical during the presidential elections. And the racial differences on prominent policy issues are huge and difficult to ignore. In some elections, racial gaps of above 40 percent have been found when it comes to the support shown for race-targeted policies, such as equal opportunity in employment, spending on programmes to assist blacks, and affirmative action schemes in academic institutions.

Even in the 21st century, race remains the central dividing line in US politics. It is feared that race relations are likely to worsen under Trump’s watch. Group loyalties determine the behaviour of the political elite. And the portrait of the US as the world’s most egalitarian society is nothing but a simple and harmless farce.

Email:rizwanasghar5@unm.edu