# Why are white people the only large demo group that supports republicans? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 6, 2016, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-people-the-only-large-demo-group-that-supports-republicans/765211 "2016-09-06T18:46:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-people-the-only-large-demo-group-that-supports-republicans/765211/21 "2016-09-07T00:17:06Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > (Liberals are often accused of wanting “equality of results,” not “equality of opportunity.” I believe that without equality of results, true equality of opportunity did not exist. The results are the only way to measure the reality of the opportunity.) How do you propose that a high school offer tryouts for the football team in such a way that a fast, healthy, athletic, agile, strong student, and a slow, unhealthy, fat, weak student, both have an “equal opportunity” to make the team? ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-people-the-only-large-demo-group-that-supports-republicans/765211/22 "2016-09-07T00:17:09Z")
> [@SantaMan](#): > > FWIW: Trump and Clinton are neck in neck among English Dominant Latinos > [link](http://www.people-press.org/2016/07/07/6-hispanic-voters-and-the-2016-election/) If you consider 48%-41% neck in neck - I wouldn’t personally. He’s much closer, but 7% is still a moderate lead. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-people-the-only-large-demo-group-that-supports-republicans/765211/23 "2016-09-07T00:25:27Z")
It’s “neck and neck.” [As in horses racing.](http://www.bethq.com/sites/default/files/images/bookmakers/news-articles/neck-and-neck-horse-race.jpg) In an election, I reckon any clear margin \>2% is too much for the idiom. ---
**Author:** ![Salvor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Salvor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Salvor)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-people-the-only-large-demo-group-that-supports-republicans/765211/24 "2016-09-07T00:57:54Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > It’s my impression of recent history that this whole thing is based on politics in the southern states. (By whole thing, I mean the current election, but even most of the shifts we’ve seen since the 1940s.) Wikipedia lays it out pretty well: > [1948](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_the_Southern_United_States#1948:_Dixiecrat_revolt): Dixiecrats leave the Democratic party because they oppose civil rights. This defines the Republican party as the home of racists. > [1964](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_the_Southern_United_States#The_Civil_Rights_Movement): Republicans oppose > > To look at how this affected African American voters: (from [POLITICS - BlackDemographics.com](http://blackdemographics.com/culture/black-politics/) ), Going into the 40’s, they were almost evenly divided between the two parties. You see a shift starting in 50’s, and by the 1964 and 1968 elections, you’re looking at the new normal that has defined race and politics ever since. When the racists left the Democrats, they joined the Republicans and that shifted politics for the South and the nation ever since. > > The civil rights era was mostly framed as black vs white, but it seems to me that you’d have to be a very naive Asian or Hispanic to think it didn’t affect you. Especially when imbeciles like Trump make Hispanics out to be their bogeyman. > > So… you can’t really simplify it down to what white people think because they’re not a single entity. Some are just plain racist and always have been. Before Trump, I would have said it was about 10% of Republicans… 20% at the most. But in the current election, it seems like 30% or more. People are showing their true colors I suppose. > > Anyway, I think the not-racist white voters are Republican because it tends to represent the status quo. If you’re situated well and things are going good for you, it makes sense to support more of the same. The status quo looks better for more whites than it does for more blacks, just as it looks better for the wealthy than the poor. Some of this ideology is current issues, and some is rooted in wishful thinking (Republicans are more likely to think that they will become rich, even if they aren’t now). This is actually an interesting angle. I know about the issue of the former confederate states in the south having their white democratic base switch to republicans. This is most plainly seen in the civil rights vote of 1964. Paid misrepresenters of reality like Dinesh seek to paint the Democratic party with the racist historical brush, but the vote totals show clearly that aversion to anti segregationist policies was not about republican vs democrat, it was old confederacy vs non confederate states. > **[Civil Rights Act of 1964](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1964#By_party_and_region)** > > District of Columbia > The Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 88–352, 78 Stat. 241, enacted July 2, 1964) is a landmark civil rights and labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex,\[a\] and national origin. It prohibits unequal application of voter registration requirements, racial segregation in schools and public accommodations, and employment discrimination. The act "remains one of the most significant legisl... It was southern voters, republican and democrat, that were hostile to civil rights. In the modern context, it makes me wonder… What is the breakdown of white support for republicans/democrats by state? based off the southern example, it could be that republican support is more evenly split among the white population between republican and democrats until you get to the south, where it would be more universal republican support. Is that how it breaks down or is the trend more universal by region and state with a few oddball states? ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-people-the-only-large-demo-group-that-supports-republicans/765211/25 "2016-09-07T00:59:35Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > They benefit disproportionately by Republican policies. Correction: they _think_ they benefit disproportionately. Some undoubtedly do, but many don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Pashnish\_Ewing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8797f3/32.png) [@Pashnish\_Ewing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pashnish_Ewing)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-people-the-only-large-demo-group-that-supports-republicans/765211/26 "2016-09-07T01:29:25Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > How do you propose that a high school offer tryouts for the football team in such a way that a fast, healthy, athletic, agile, strong student, and a slow, unhealthy, fat, weak student, both have an “equal opportunity” to make the team? By then it is too late. A community would have to start much earlier, making sure every student has equal access to coaching and proper nutrition. ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-people-the-only-large-demo-group-that-supports-republicans/765211/27 "2016-09-07T01:34:43Z")
It tends to be the same reasons that women lean towards the Democratic party. The Republican party, as said upthread, operates as if everything is equal when, as women and minorities know well, they are not. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-people-the-only-large-demo-group-that-supports-republicans/765211/28 "2016-09-07T01:59:40Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > **If** Trump somehow manages to win the only silver lining with that would be that the giant will also awake in places like Texas and and become more active in Florida. Mmmm… **Maybe** that giant is waking up faster than I thought. [http://www.statesman.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/washington-post-poll-clinton-and-trump-locked-in-d/nsR6r/](http://www.statesman.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/washington-post-poll-clinton-and-trump-locked-in-d/nsR6r/) > [@](#): > > The Post described the Texas outcome, based on a survey of more than 5,000 Texans, as the “most unexpected” finding in the poll, which was conducted of 74,000 registered voters nationally between Aug. 9 and Sept. 1. > > The poll shows Clinton leading Trump in Texas by 1 point — 46 to 45 percent. In a four-way race, Clinton and Trump are tied at 40 percent each, Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson has 11 percent, Green Party candidate Jill Stein has 3 percent and 6 percent are undecided. The poll had no margin of sampling error because it didn’t use random sampling. Yep, still unlikely, but I do think that the Republicans are making us open an eye at least. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-people-the-only-large-demo-group-that-supports-republicans/765211/29 "2016-09-07T03:19:07Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > **Within the context of the action alone** , the affirmative action is unequal treatment. I’ll point out that it is foolish and simplistic to believe that a policy of affirmative action can be usefully evaluated as though it occurs in a vacuum (which is what “within the context of the action alone” means). ---
**Author:** ![Salvor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Salvor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Salvor)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-people-the-only-large-demo-group-that-supports-republicans/765211/30 "2016-09-07T03:39:25Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I’ll point out that it is foolish and simplistic to believe that a policy of affirmative action can be usefully evaluated as though it occurs in a vacuum (which is what “within the context of the action alone” means). Side point. Asians are more hurt by affirmative action compared to white people when it comes to admissions in college where it’s still applied, likely still get annoyed by it, and yet still won’t touch republicans with a ten foot pole. Whatever purchase the affirmative action issue once had as a wedge issue is greatly diminished in modern times based off what I hear people get riled up about. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-people-the-only-large-demo-group-that-supports-republicans/765211/31 "2016-09-07T06:04:24Z")
Funny thing is, up until the 90s, Asians did vote Republican. So the nativist bent in the GOP has definitely hurt them with all non-white demographic groups. Latinos used to be more split as well. While 55-45 is still a Democratic win in that demographic, it’s a close enough split that you couldn’t say that the GOP was pretty much an all white party: millions of Latino Republicans matter. Now there’s maybe 1 or 2 million who vote Republican. Interestingly enough, conservatism is not the problem here. LP candidate Gary Johnson is actually polling better among Latinos than among whites: > **[Latino | Fox News](https://www.foxnews.com/category/latino)** > > Latino > [@](#): > > According to an exclusive Fox News Latino poll released on Thursday, 16 percent of Latinos would vote for Johnson and running mate Bill Weld if the election were held today – only 1 percent less than the ticket of Trump and Indiana Gov. Mike Pence. Johnson jumped seven points since May, while Trump lost four points. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-people-the-only-large-demo-group-that-supports-republicans/765211/32 "2016-09-07T13:58:52Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > It’s “neck and neck.” [As in horses racing.](http://www.bethq.com/sites/default/files/images/bookmakers/news-articles/neck-and-neck-horse-race.jpg) I wish people would tow the line on that expression! > [@dalej42](#): > > ``` > The anti science nonsense the GOP has been pushing has probably alienated the Asian community as well. > > ``` Because, as we all know, Asians are really good at math and science? I’d ask the OP how he is defining “demographic”. Are “men” a demographic? Are rural, white Texan and white NYC-ites in the same demographic? And I’d ask the OP if he is only considering the presidential election. Perhaps we set up these demographic distinctions to fit the political landscape. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-people-the-only-large-demo-group-that-supports-republicans/765211/33 "2016-09-07T14:07:03Z")
> [@SantaMan](#): > > FWIW: Trump and Clinton are neck in neck among English Dominant Latinos > [link](http://www.people-press.org/2016/07/07/6-hispanic-voters-and-the-2016-election/) They don’t provide information for Hispanics who don’t speak Spanish 😕. There’s quite a few of those around, but I guess they’re lumping English-dominant and English-only together. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-people-the-only-large-demo-group-that-supports-republicans/765211/34 "2016-09-07T14:16:28Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **GIGObuster** ’s cite: > > The poll had no margin of sampling error because it didn’t use random sampling. Yawn, that’s just somebody making up the numbers that they like. Wake me up whenever there’s an actual study showing the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-people-the-only-large-demo-group-that-supports-republicans/765211/35 "2016-09-07T14:20:05Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > They don’t provide information for Hispanics who don’t speak Spanish 😕. There’s quite a few of those around, but I guess they’re lumping English-dominant and English-only together. There’s no Latino vs. white gap in voting behavior. Rather, there’s an immigrant vs. native gap and a poor vs. middle class gap. Latinos also vote a lot more Republican as they gain in income. By the time demographics supposedly make Democrats dominant, most Latino voters will effectively be white voters. By then, the dominant immigrant group will be not Latinos, but Asians. Latino immigration has slowed while Asian immigration is skyrocketing. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-people-the-only-large-demo-group-that-supports-republicans/765211/36 "2016-09-07T14:25:14Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > There’s no Latino vs. white gap in voting behavior. Rather, there’s an immigrant vs. native gap and a poor vs. middle class gap. Latinos also vote a lot more Republican as they gain in income. > > By the time demographics supposedly make Democrats dominant, most Latino voters will effectively be white voters. By then, the dominant immigrant group will be not Latinos, but Asians. Latino immigration has slowed while Asian immigration is skyrocketing. Latinos also vote a lot less Republican the more Trump-like Republican candidates (and the party itself) become. So it’s just as likely that, by then, even higher income Latinos may be solid Democrats if the Republican party becomes more and more Trumpian. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-people-the-only-large-demo-group-that-supports-republicans/765211/37 "2016-09-07T14:39:46Z")
That can certainly happen but it’s interesting how many English dominant Latinos support Trump now. In a future where almost all Latinos are English dominant, any Republican would be thrilled to finish 48-41 among Latino voters. Actually, in a future like that, it’s the GOP that’s dominant, not the Democrats. Which might be why Democrats really, really want to get the immigration flow from the south going again. ---
**Author:** ![Anny\_Middon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc79bd/32.png) [@Anny\_Middon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anny_Middon)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-people-the-only-large-demo-group-that-supports-republicans/765211/38 "2016-09-07T14:45:02Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Similarly, some conservatives have said that there ought to be a White/Caucasian Heritage Month, since we already have a Hispanic Heritage Month, black heritage month, native American heritage month, and since white people are only one racial group in America, just like every other racial group (or so conservative logic goes,) why shouldn’t there be a White Heritage Month? But liberals typically oppose this idea because they say that white people are already privileged, and so giving them a White Heritage Month would further boost white people even further up, whereas by denying white people a White Heritage Month while giving minorities their minority-race heritage months, you are therefore leveling the field and making things more equal. I think you’re probably right with this, but I’ll quibble with how you’ve phrased it. When I was a child, I complained once that there was a Mother’s Day and a Father’s Day, but no Children’s Day. My dad laughed and said, “That’s because every day is Children’s Day.” I think liberals oppose White Heritage Month because there’s no need for it – every month is White Heritage Month. During the heritage months for other racial groups, attention is paid to the achievements of people in those groups, but the achievements of white people routinely get attention. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-people-the-only-large-demo-group-that-supports-republicans/765211/39 "2016-09-07T15:33:43Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I think we may be talking past each other - we’re describing the same thing. Affirmative action, _is_, by definition, unequal treatment within the context of college admissions alone - someone is being given different treatment on account of their race. The issue of dispute is whether this unequal treatment is a good or bad thing. First, “within the context of college admissions alone” is the same thing as “without context.” Context doesn’t mean excluding relevant factors, it means including them. Second, if your explanation of why conservatives oppose affirmative action were correct, conservatives would equally oppose legacy admissions for any school that was racially segregated within an unbroken history of legacy admissions. That is, if the school was racially segregated in 1940, and has offered legacy admissions ever since 1940, white students will be admitted in greater numbers than black students due to racial segregation. Similarly, conservatives would absolutely oppose cronyism in hiring and promotion decisions in any environment where there’s social segregation. Both phenomena lead to different treatment on account of race. What’s super interesting, however, is that conservatives regularly condemn unequal treatment when it benefits minorities, and are regularly silent about unequal treatment when it benefits white people. I suspect that your explanation–conservatives just oppose unequal treatment–doesn’t account for what we see. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-people-the-only-large-demo-group-that-supports-republicans/765211/40 "2016-09-07T16:25:06Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > They benefit disproportionately by Republican policies. They do? 😕 I mean Trump claims he will help the blue collar middle class get back their jobs. Trump’s record has been consistently one of treating his employees like shit and outsourcing as much as possible to China, etc. The GOP’s record of being helpful to the blue collar middle class is dismal. Why do they think both Trump and the GOP will change their spots? The only ones who benefit disproportionately by Republican policies are millionaire CEOs, especially those in the Military-Industrial hegemony. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-people-the-only-large-demo-group-that-supports-republicans/765211.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-people-the-only-large-demo-group-that-supports-republicans/765211.md?page=3)