Racism on the Right; Is Racism Real in America?

I hear and read how the right denies they are racists.  Not all of them are; but many of the views they express are either racist, or have racist elements that unfairly and negatively make negative assumptions about people as groups.

Research suggests this is true of some members of the right wing.  Read this, and then ask yourself how well the qualities identified track with current right wing culture wars.  They sound remarkably authoritarian to me, and they seem to incorporate exactly the same qualities of personality and the same points of view identified by Altmeyer and others.  Even brain differences are tending to support such observations.

What the authoritarian right does NOT represent is the mainstream view of the real majority, the center, of the United States.  The reaction to the authoritarians is playing out in the 2011 and 2012 political conflicts on a daily basis.

One of the first psychologists to examine political views and social views from the perspective of psychological and personality traits was Canadian academic, Bob Altmeyer:

Altemeyer suggested that authoritarian politicians are more likely to be in the Conservative or Reform party in Canada, or the Republican Party in the United States. They generally have a conservative economic philosophy, are highly nationalistic, oppose abortion, support capital punishment, oppose gun control legislation, and do not value social equality.^[2] The RWA scale reliably correlates with political party affiliation, reactions to Watergate, pro-capitalist attitudes, religious orthodoxy, and acceptance of covert governmental activities such as illegal wiretaps.^[2] Although authoritarianism is correlated with conservative political ideology, not all authoritarians are conservative, and not all conservatives are authoritarian. 

The experience of members of the groups which experience racism say they are wrong, that they are racist, and as those who are discriminated against, they have a better basis to know if they encounter prejudice than those who have a vested interest in denying they have that practiced that prejudice.

At the same time it is from the right that we hear things like Donald Trump or Rush Limbaugh denying the genuine academic accomplishments of people like President Obama.  It is from the right we hear how they deny that individuals from racial or ethnic minorities face greater obstacles or prejudice in achieving their success.

Racism continues to exist in this country; denying it perpetuates and continues it, rather than advancing the elimination of racism.  Rather than rely on the observations of those who are recipients of racism, or the denials of those who want to excuse their racist views, is the third option, independent trained, objective outside observers.  I can find numerous examples of people who meet that criteria identifying racism in the United States, but none who have those criteria that deny it continues to exist.

As Mr. Doudou Diène, a former United Nations Special Rapporteur on Contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, stated after visiting several states in the U.S., "Racism and racial discrimination have profoundly and lastingly marked and structured American society.

The U.S. has made decisive progress. However, the historical, cultural and human depth of racism still permeates all dimensions of life and American society."

Donald Trump, as an example of a voice on the right that believes he isn't racist, while speaking in a quite opposite manner, has been touting how good his relations are with 'the blacks'.  Someone ought to explain, in words of few syllables to Donald the Clown, or Bozo Trump, that is probably not a very successful way to speak about that demographic.  The very fact that he would do so illustrates how very out of touch he is with racial and ethnic segments of this country, and with the main stream.

But he sure does appeal to the same base that embraces racist birther conspiracies, and shallow, ill-conceived notions of foreign policy.  In fact, Trump fits right in with the other authoritarians on the right wing.  Just watch who supports him.