Poll finds that 39 percent of respondents think white people are 'under attack' in the U.S.

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published 14 September 2017

A Reuters/Ipsos poll taken in Charlottesville, Virginia, weeks after the violent white nationalist rally shed light on "troubling racial attitudes" that persist among some Americans.

The poll, conducted in conjunction with the University of Virginia Center for Politics, found that 39 percent of respondents strongly or somewhat agreed that "white people are currently under attack in this country," while 38 percent disagreed. Fifty-fifty percent strongly or somewhat disagreed that "racial minorities are currently under attack," while 22 percent disagreed. The poll revealed that 14 percent simultaneously agreed that "white people are under attack" and disagreed that "nonwhites are under attack."

In further alarming findings, 31 percent agreed that America "needs to protect its White European heritage," and roughly one-sixth (16 percent) agreed that "marriage should only be allowed between two people of the same race." The UVA Center for Politics reported that on the whole "about a third failed to express tolerance of interracial marriage," some 50 years after the Supreme Court struck down bans of it.