Robert P. Jones: White Supremacy Is a Threat to Public Health
White Supremacy Is a Threat to Public Health
PRRI’s Robert P. Jones writes of the growing threat of white supremacy, the impact the coronavirus has had on the black community, and other issues in a recent piece for Sojourners. According to Jones, the nation’s “legal foundations, political architecture, and civic fabric were designed to privilege the well-being of those who declared themselves white at the expense of Native Americans, African Americans, and other people of color.” He later adds that “In too many ways, it is still the unfortunate truth that white people in America are less vulnerable than our fellow citizens of color.” Read more here.
Protests Erupt Across the Nation
A majority (57%) of Americans do not believe that police treat black Americans and members of other minority communities generally the same as whites. This belief has been on display across the U.S. as protesters take to the streets following the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old unarmed Black man who died while in police custody in Minnesota. Protests, many of which have turned violent, have been juxtaposed to how heavily armed white protesters were treated while protesting stay-at-home orders in May. Additionally, more than eight in ten (83%) black Americans and nearly two-thirds (65%) of Hispanic Americans do not believe blacks and other minorities are treated the same by police as whites.
The Atlantic: ‘America Used to Have Leaders’
In 2019, just one in five (21%) of those planning to vote Democrat in 2020 said they would look for a candidate with the right leadership style. In recent days, amid protests across the nation, what kind of leadership President Donald Trump displays during a crisis has been questioned. During this display, the editorial team of The Atlantic republished a famed 1968 speech by Robert F. Kennedy with the framing, “America Used to Have Leaders.” Kennedy’s speech, delivered the night Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, was similarly praised in Forbes. “At a moment when he could have tried to rile the crowd in an effort to polarize and divide for political gain, he instead provided unity,” writes Doug Sundheim.
Social Media Users View Trump Unfavorably
According to PRRI’s Diana Orcés, those who use social media more frequently are more likely to view President Trump unfavorably than those who do not. “In order to better understand what frequent social media users think about Trump, the PRRI survey (based on combined responses to various media sources) shows that a majority of social media users (55%) think very unfavorably of Trump, compared to 45% who use social media infrequently and 47% who don’t use social media at all.” Orcés’ Spotlight comes the same week that President Trump announced an executive order which aims to give the FCC and FTC power over the regulation of several tech platforms, including Twitter and Facebook.
SCOTUS Denies Church in Opposition of Stay-At-Home Order
On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court shot down a request from a California church that would block authorities from stopping church services. “Although California’s guidelines place restrictions on places of worship, those restrictions appear consistent with the free exercise clause of the First Amendment,” Chief Justice Roberts wrote on Friday. In April, only about one in five (21%) Americans favored allowing churches and other religious organizations to continue to hold in-person services during a stay-at-home order.