Does ‘white privilege’ exist? It depends on how you ask, SC poll finds
Whites in 11 Southern states — even supporters of the Confederate flag — are more likely to say nonwhites face “barriers” in society than to agree that whites benefit from “privilege,” a poll by Winthrop University found.
Winthrop collected the data in its poll of the South last December and released it Thursday, during the week of Martin Luther King Jr. Day remembrances.
Pollsters asked half of the 969 Southerners surveyed if they thought that whites in America have “privileges” that nonwhites do not have. The other half were asked if they thought nonwhites in America experience “barriers.”
Ninety-two percent of African-Americans reported seeing examples of white “privilege” in society, as did 50 percent of whites. Among supporters of the Confederate flag, 36 percent agreed whites have a privileged status that nonwhites lack.
But when asked if nonwhites experience “barriers” that whites do not, 71 percent of whites agreed. Among flag supporters, 55 percent agreed that barriers exist to nonwhites.
Among black respondents, 85 percent agreed there are barriers to nonwhites in society. That was less, however, than the 92 percent who saw examples of white privilege.
“This is a classic ‘framing effect,’ ” said Winthrop pollster Scott Huffmon. “Whether differences are attributed to one group having ‘privilege’ or the other group facing ‘barriers,’ the end result is the same; however, by changing the way we talk about a situation, we see that attitudes can shift.”
Market researchers have been familiar with this affect for decades, Huffmon said.
“People may recall decades ago the upcharge for paying with a credit card at a gas station came to be called a ‘cash discount’ and, suddenly, people were much more accepting,” Huffmon said. “Same result, different frame.”
Other differences in perception also persist, the poll found.
Fifty-two percent of African-Americans in the South report that they have been discriminated against in the last year because of their race or ethnicity, while 18 percent of whites reported being discriminated against.
The poll found one area of agreement.
Nearly equal numbers — 30 percent of whites and 28 percent of blacks — say America should preserve its “white European heritage.”
“We’re not sure what resulted in this common outlook,” Huffmon said. “It could be something as simple as the realization that we sprung from the colonies of a European power.”
Nearly half of those who viewed the Confederate flag favorably agreed with the preservation of white European heritage.
The poll covered residents of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
Those surveyed were reached by landline and cellphone from Nov. 10 to 20 and from Nov. 26 to Dec. 2. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.15 percentage points.
This story was originally published January 24, 2019 at 10:48 AM with the headline "Does ‘white privilege’ exist? It depends on how you ask, SC poll finds."
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