# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-people-the-only-large-demo-group-that-supports-republicans/765211/81 "2016-09-08T16:16:34Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > 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. I think Republican Conservatism could be best typified as support for the current power dynamic, or in the case of reactionaries, a desire to return to the previous power dynamic. As a result their policies tend to those that favor the established and powerful over the weak and disenfranchised. Thus since the white is the dominant race in the United States, their views cater to this demographic more than they do to the minority demographic. This same dynamic holds for their support of mainstream Christianity vs minority religions, favoring the wealthy over the poor, straight over gay, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Chihuahua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dec6dc/32.png) [@Chihuahua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chihuahua)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-people-the-only-large-demo-group-that-supports-republicans/765211/82 "2016-09-08T17:23:52Z")
> [@inscrutable](#): > > What is this “privilege” that I’m apparently losing? > > My parents grew up poor in the Depression, yet had the sense of responsibility to work their asses off to buy a house in a good school district because they gave a damn about their children. That privilege? > > Or is it my privilege to scrimp and save for retirement because I have the sense of responsibility to give a damn about my future? > > Seems to me that this “white privilege” amounts to nothing more than having a sense of responsibility to give a damn about life… Your parents had the opportunity to send you to a better school because the black kids were being shut out of nice, white neighborhoods. Your parents had the opportunity to work their asses off because they weren’t being excluded from jobs. Your parents probably never had a resume or a loan application tossed in the shredder just because it had a stereotypically black name on it. Your parents had the advantage of being treated fairly by the criminal justice system, rather than exploited or victimized by it. Your parents probably never got shot by a police officer for no reason whatsoever. This is what people mean when they talk about “white privilege.” There are a tremendous number of factors that influence how much opportunity you had to move up in the world. This does not devalue the amount of effort and responsibility went with it. It just points out that many minorities could put forth just as much - or more - effort and still fail because the deck was stacked against them from the beginning. You, and most other white people, have the attitude that “If I did it, anyone can,” because you overlook the disadvantages inherent in being a minority. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-people-the-only-large-demo-group-that-supports-republicans/765211/83 "2016-09-08T17:50:44Z")
Guys, perhaps we should get back to the OP? ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-people-the-only-large-demo-group-that-supports-republicans/765211/84 "2016-09-08T18:43:31Z")
> [@inscrutable](#): > > That line of reasoning is just as broad-brush assumptive and unrealistic as the “white republicans are racists” attitude. Come on, Andy, just consider the sheer population numbers – there are probably more poor trailer-trash whites than poor blacks. Can you honestly state that they face fewer obsacles to a cubicle at Lochheed, Northrup, or other engineering firms than blacks? > > That path is paved with assimilation and hard work, regardless of one’s background. YES!!! The children of poor white face fewer obstacles than similarly situated black children. No question about it. The children of poor whites face more obstacles than wealthy blacks but all other things being equal, whites have it easier than blacks. You almost have to be wilfully ignorant of the situation to not recognize that. ---
**Author:** ![Mallard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Mallard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallard)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-people-the-only-large-demo-group-that-supports-republicans/765211/85 "2016-09-08T18:43:34Z")
IMHO, support for Republicans is less about race directly but about wealth and power. Just like a previous poster stated, he wants less government through less taxation. Taxes support programs that people with lower incomes need. “Non-whites” tend to be poorer so they need tax funded programs. Wealthier people, who tend to be white, do not want or need these programs, so proportionately they want their taxes reduced. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-people-the-only-large-demo-group-that-supports-republicans/765211/86 "2016-09-08T18:58:35Z")
> [@Salvor](#): > > 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. It helps that most Democrats haven’t taken any significant action on this issue to bolster affirmative action policies from Obama on down even if they might dutifully repeat the mantra about the necessity of the policy when asked. When [Democrats have tried](http://www.mercurynews.com/2014/03/17/california-affirmative-action-revival-bill-is-dead/), Asian opposition shot it down. > [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > This article, which appears to be backed up by derailed stats analysis, suggests the contrary: that Asian Americans support a combination of free enterprise _and_ a larger role for government in social supports. That puts them more firmly in the Democratic camp. > > _How Asian Americans Became Democrats_ > > [How Asian Americans Became Democrats - The American Prospect](http://prospect.org/article/how-asian-americans-became-democrats-0) Amusingly enough I was assigned that article to read for my class yesterday. There was another piece linked to in the comments that I think provides yet another piece of the puzzle as to the shift in Asian American voting which notes that Asians have shifted left [as the proportion who were Christian well from roughly 60 percent in the early 90s to 40 percent](http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2012/11/religion-determines-politics-for-asian-americans/#.V9DL9SgrLIU). Asians who are Christian are roughly evenly divided but it is the non-Christian element which is strongly Democratic. ---
**Author:** ![quimper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7c8e57/32.png) [@quimper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quimper)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-people-the-only-large-demo-group-that-supports-republicans/765211/87 "2016-09-08T19:55:19Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I believe there are many white folks in America who genuinely, sincerely, believe that they are equal to other races - in the sense of having no particular privilege or advantage. Bingo. In fact lower class whites have fallen behind in many important measures. Death rates are \*rising \*for whites (fastest amongst less educated/rural populations) while it drops for every other cohort. Rising death rates are \*very \*unusual in the modern era (think Russia in the 90s) and it’s not hard to imagine how destabilizing they can be. The Milanovic [Elephant Chart](http://harvardpress.typepad.com/hup_publicity/2016/06/branko-milanovic-elephant-chart-brexit.html) further illustrates the extent to which the Western lower classes have been treading water since 1988. The past 30 years have seen the greatest reduction in poverty in history, but very little of it has benefited working class westerners. ---
**Author:** ![quimper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7c8e57/32.png) [@quimper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quimper)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-people-the-only-large-demo-group-that-supports-republicans/765211/88 "2016-09-08T20:08:29Z")
Forgot to link to the article about rising death rates… [http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/national/wp/2016/04/10/2016/04/10/a-new-divide-in-american-death/](http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/national/wp/2016/04/10/2016/04/10/a-new-divide-in-american-death/) ---
**Author:** ![inscrutable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a88e4f/32.png) [@inscrutable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/inscrutable)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-people-the-only-large-demo-group-that-supports-republicans/765211/89 "2016-09-08T22:03:49Z")
> [@Chihuahua](#): > > Your parents had the opportunity to send you to a better school because the black kids were being shut out of nice, white neighborhoods. Your parents had the opportunity to work their asses off because they weren’t being excluded from jobs. Your parents probably never had a resume or a loan application tossed in the shredder just because it had a stereotypically black name on it. Your parents had the advantage of being treated fairly by the criminal justice system, rather than exploited or victimized by it. Your parents probably never got shot by a police officer for no reason whatsoever. > > This is what people mean when they talk about “white privilege.” There are a tremendous number of factors that influence how much opportunity you had to move up in the world. This does not devalue the amount of effort and responsibility went with it. It just points out that many minorities could put forth just as much - or more - effort and still fail because the deck was stacked against them from the beginning. You, and most other white people, have the attitude that “If I did it, anyone can,” because you overlook the disadvantages inherent in being a minority. Excellent article on the myth of white privilege: > **[The Fallacy of ‘White Privilege’ | National Review](https://www.nationalreview.com/2016/02/white-privilege-myth-reality/)** > > The notion of ‘white privilege’ is an invention of liberals that harms blacks by obscuring the real causes of their problems. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-people-the-only-large-demo-group-that-supports-republicans/765211/90 "2016-09-08T22:25:17Z")
> [@inscrutable](#): > > Excellent article on the myth of white privilege: > > [White Privilege: Myth & Reality | National Review](http://www.nationalreview.com/article/431393/white-privilege-myth-reality) If you are born in the USA, or any modern Western nation, you are so very privileged compared to a lot of the rest of the world, that the color of your skin is practically irrelevant. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-people-the-only-large-demo-group-that-supports-republicans/765211/91 "2016-09-08T23:41:14Z")
> [@inscrutable](#): > > Wow, in reading this board, you would think this entire Country today is pre-1964 deep south. > > Have there been any successful, if not wealthy, black people during the past fifty years??? > > There must be a better way for liberals to wage class warfare other than to keep trying to re-define it as race warfare… This may not have shown up on the news you read, but Donald Trump his ownself - and the apartments he and his racist Dad owned - marked applications from black people C for colored. In New York, not Mississippi. I grew up in Queens, just like the Donald. There was a black neighborhood, there was a white neighborhood. Equally kept up, same types of houses, though probably their houses weren’t worth as much. In 1975 my father sold our house to a cop from Haiti, because that was the best offer and he was a nice guy. And my dad got all kinds of crap from the neighbors. No, unfortunately racism is not confined to the deep South, and if you think that you have led a sheltered - and privileged - life. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-people-the-only-large-demo-group-that-supports-republicans/765211/92 "2016-09-08T23:46:37Z")
> [@inscrutable](#): > > Wow… You don’t believe this? Try [this](http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2015/mar/15/jalen-ross/black-name-resume-50-percent-less-likely-get-respo/) > [@](#): > > After responding to 1,300 ads with more than 5,000 resumes, the researchers found that the job applicants with white names needed to send 10 resumes to get one callback, but the black candidate needed to send 15 for one. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-people-the-only-large-demo-group-that-supports-republicans/765211/93 "2016-09-09T03:17:42Z")
Now if I was doing a study, I’d follow up by sending resumes with all black-sounding names, but half with traditional African names and half with names from parents who must have really hated their children and see if there’s a variance. I bet Baracks and Kamalas get more callbacks than half-assed attempts at naming(like putting a D or an L before a common name, or spelling it differently just because), or outright horrid names that get black kids mercilessly mocked by other black kids. BTW, if you ever want to see naming as a weapon against unwanted or neglected kids, go to any DHS adoption si, and te and see what names these kids got saddled with. Parents don’t realize or don’t care that a bad name can set a person back and I think the effect of race is overrated. I bet Dikembe gets a lot more callbacks than D’Morris or Laquiseha and probably more callbacks than Waldo. ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-people-the-only-large-demo-group-that-supports-republicans/765211/94 "2016-09-09T12:37:46Z")
> [@inscrutable](#): > > Excellent article on the myth of white privilege: > > [White Privilege: Myth & Reality | National Review](http://www.nationalreview.com/article/431393/white-privilege-myth-reality) He doesn’t prove that it’s a myth, or even really try to, he just points out other privileges that exist. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-people-the-only-large-demo-group-that-supports-republicans/765211/95 "2016-09-09T14:20:01Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > I bet Dikembe gets a lot more callbacks than D’Morris or Laquiseha and probably more callbacks than Waldo. I do okay, but only because I’m handsome and smell like freshly-baked bread. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-people-the-only-large-demo-group-that-supports-republicans/765211/96 "2016-09-09T18:24:05Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Now if I was doing a study, I’d follow up by sending resumes with all black-sounding names, but half with traditional African names and half with names from parents who must have really hated their children and see if there’s a variance. I bet Baracks and Kamalas get more callbacks than half-assed attempts at naming(like putting a D or an L before a common name, or spelling it differently just because), or outright horrid names that get black kids mercilessly mocked by other black kids. > > BTW, if you ever want to see naming as a weapon against unwanted or neglected kids, go to any DHS adoption si, and te and see what names these kids got saddled with. Parents don’t realize or don’t care that a bad name can set a person back and I think the effect of race is overrated. I bet Dikembe gets a lot more callbacks than D’Morris or Laquiseha and probably more callbacks than Waldo. You may have a point there. I knew a couple than named their kids Bambi and Thumper, thus making the girl (Bambi, who was actually a stag) suited only for life as a stripper and the boy set up nicely as a boxer. Bambi is not gonna get a call back for the CEO position. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-people-the-only-large-demo-group-that-supports-republicans/765211/97 "2016-09-09T19:28:22Z")
> [@Salvor](#): > > 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. Republicans frequently come off as racist to anyone that isn’t white. You really get the sense that once they get tired of fucking over blacks, we’re next. Affirmative action doesn’t bug us as much as the fact that Asians seem to bear virtually the entire load, whites seem almost immune from the effects of affirmative action (and yet it seems to bother them immensely). Between that and all the “preferences” that seem to line up nicely for whites, it seems like we have affirmative action on one side and game rigging on the other. > [@](#): > > 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. Maybe the whites figured out that it wasn’t costing them anything. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-people-the-only-large-demo-group-that-supports-republicans/765211/98 "2016-09-09T19:31:11Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I’m a Republican, and I’m white, but my support for Republican candidates and policies has little if anything to do with race. I want lower taxes and a smaller, less-intrusive government, etc, and so I support the candidate that I think is most likely to get me to those things. And that is exactly where a LOT of Asians were in the 1980s (Asians were more consistently Republican than white males). But we left because of the racism. We were replaced by more racist whites and people who were closer and closer to Trump on the ideological spectrum. So now you have a party of mostly white with a large enough contingent of people like Trump that he is now your nominee. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-people-the-only-large-demo-group-that-supports-republicans/765211/99 "2016-09-09T19:43:04Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Now if I was doing a study, I’d follow up by sending resumes with all black-sounding names, but half with traditional African names and half with names from parents who must have really hated their children and see if there’s a variance. I bet Baracks and Kamalas get more callbacks than half-assed attempts at naming(like putting a D or an L before a common name, or spelling it differently just because), or outright horrid names that get black kids mercilessly mocked by other black kids. > > BTW, if you ever want to see naming as a weapon against unwanted or neglected kids, go to any DHS adoption si, and te and see what names these kids got saddled with. Parents don’t realize or don’t care that a bad name can set a person back and I think the effect of race is overrated. I bet Dikembe gets a lot more callbacks than D’Morris or Laquiseha and probably more callbacks than Waldo. I see. So, discrimination is okay based on what parents do. And you’d have to show that the black names chose were over the top. I wonder if the same would hold for Indian or Chinese names. ---
**Author:** ![Chihuahua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dec6dc/32.png) [@Chihuahua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chihuahua)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-people-the-only-large-demo-group-that-supports-republicans/765211/100 "2016-09-10T05:30:21Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > I see. So, discrimination is okay based on what parents do. And you’d have to show that the black names chose were over the top. > I wonder if the same would hold for Indian or Chinese names. Not his point. The point is that a stupid name is a stupid name no matter what color you are. A white person whose resume says “Bart Simpson” on it will never be taken seriously, regardless of what his credentials are. People nowadays think it is important that their children have unique names, even when that means they are childish, mispelled or nonsense, and they aren’t thinking about how that name will be perceived when they are professionals trying to get employers to take them seriously. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-people-the-only-large-demo-group-that-supports-republicans/765211.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-people-the-only-large-demo-group-that-supports-republicans/765211.md?page=6)