There are several partisan gaps among Americans, but race relations is not one of them, according to a Gallup report released on August 7.
Both the Democrat and Republican parties agree that there is a growing dissatisfaction with race relations in the nation. The report cited the viral riverfront dock brawl that occurred earlier this month in Montgomery, Alabama, as a reminder of the state of racial tension.
Gallup looked at 24 issues that included global warming and the environment, education, abortion, immigration, gun laws, and the government’s role in providing healthcare. The partisan gap has widened over popular issues.
On issues related to morals and values, Democrats more than Republicans have been in support of “having a baby outside of marriage, sex between unmarried partners, and divorce.” But, the report also noted that there has been an increase in Republican support of same-sex marriage since 2013.
The survey of changing attitudes on these issues has been conducted in approximately 10-year intervals beginning in 2003. But beginning in 2000, Gallup began to measure partisan positions on a smaller number of issues.
“Over the past two decades, partisan gaps on all of the issues included in this analysis have either remained roughly the same or expanded,” wrote Frank Newport, a senior scientist for Gallup. “This reinforces the fundamental (albeit not surprising) conclusion that when Americans are divided into two groups based on their political identity, they are also predictably divided into two groups on a wide range of politically and socially important issues.”
But both partisan groups have increasingly become dissatisfied with the state of race relations in America. They have shared this sentiment since 2013.
To read the full report, click here.
Director of The Raceless Gospel Initiative, an associate editor, host of the Good Faith Media podcast, “The Raceless Gospel” and author of Take Me to the Water: The Raceless Gospel as Baptismal Pedagogy for a Desegregated Church.