NASCAR Bans the Confederate Flag

NASCAR Bans the Confederate Flag

In 2016, PRRI CEO and founder Robert P. Jones wrote that “more than seven in ten (71%) white working-class Americans say the Confederate flag is more a symbol of southern pride than racism, a view shared by less than half (42%) of white college-educated Americans.” On Wednesday, NASCAR joined the U.S. Navy and other organizations in barring the Confederate flag from display. “No one should feel uncomfortable when they come to a NASCAR race. So it starts with Confederate flags. Get them out of here. They have no place for them,” NASCAR racer Bubba Wallace, the only black driver in the sport’s elite Cup Series, said on Monday. Additional data from 2019 shows that these views have not changed much. A slim majority (52%) of Americans overall believe the flag is a symbol of Southern pride, while 45% say it is a symbol of racism. Among white working-class Americans, 72% still say the Confederate flag is a symbol of Southern pride.

‘Live PD’ Cancelled One Year After Cameras Filmed Death of Black Man in Police Custody

PRRI data shows that 57% of Americans do not think police officers treat black and white Americans the same. As protests and debates about race occur around the nation, the popular cable program “Live PD” has been cancelled by A&E. The cancellation comes after the network was questioned over the death of Javier Ambler in Austin, Texas, who died in 2019 while in police custody after being restrained and tased, despite allegedly telling officers he had congestive heart failure. According to A&E, all footage of the arrest was destroyed..

Which Version of American Christianity Will Predominate?

More than seven in ten (73%) Americans say that there is a lot of discrimination against the black community in the U.S. Democrats (90%) are significantly more likely than Republicans (48%) to say there is a lot of discrimination against blacks in the country today. In The Washington Post, E.J. Dionne Jr. points readers to Robert P. Jones’ upcoming-book “White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity,” while analyzing the current state of religious institutions and race. “There is a struggle within Christianity over which strain will predominate — a white Christian nationalism that my friend Robert P. Jones warns against in his forthcoming book, ‘White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity,’ or the prophetic tradition that provided spiritual ballast to the abolitionist and civil rights movements,” Dionne Jr. writes.

What Trump Should Have Learned from Past Presidents

PRRI data shows that 73% of Americans wish President Trump acted more like his predecessors. This number includes 88% of Democrats and drops to 46% of Republicans. In The Atlantic, John Dickerson looks at what Trump could have learned from past presidents. According to Dickerson, Trump would benefit from drawing on some of the institutional decorum and standards surrounding the presidency. “The Trump administration, by contrast, has set the modern standard for organizational chaos,” Dickerson writes.

Churches Become Places for Community Testing During Coronavirus

At the height of coronavirus stay-at-home orders, PRRI data found that 21% of Americans favored allowing churches and religious organizations to hold in-person services even when the government has issued such an order. More than three in four (77%) opposed such a religious exemption, including 40% who strongly opposed such a policy. Fast forward several weeks and religious institutions across the U.S. have found new ways to connect with communities, including those looking to get a coronavirus test. In a new piece for The New York Times, Roni Caryn Rabin explores the role that churches in New York are playing in fighting the coronavirus pandemic in their communities.