The Black Point of View
29th May 2024
Pundits love to talk about what is happening to black Americans and what they purportedly think about it. The bottom line of the mainstream analysis—especially on the Left, but also on much of the mainstream Right as well—is that things are really, really bad for African Americans, and they are unhappy about it and seeking large-scale change in American society to better address the problems they face.
Most of that punditry proceeds in the absence of actual evidence about the beliefs of black Americans. This is both because much of what exists in the public political discussion is intellectually lazy and unconcerned about minor affairs like backing up arguments with facts, but also because the facts do not well support the desired, predetermined position.
Pew recently published data on the attitudes of black Americans, and there are some intriguing results to be found there. Of course, Pew passes quickly over much of the most interesting and useful information in their own results, owing to the druthers of that organization.