The election of Donald Trump led many to think that Republicans have changed, especially on race related issues. But the data suggest that the big changes in public opinion on racial issues over the last decade or so have been among Democrats. Since 2012, Democrats have become strikingly more liberal on race, on issues related to women, and the LGBT over the last decade or so.
Conditions Make It Hard for Blacks to Succeed
The percentage of Democrats strongly agreeing with the statement more than doubled between 2012 (~ 20%) and 2020 (~ 45%).
Source: ANES
Affirmative Action in Hiring/Promotion
The percentage of Democrats for affirmative action for Blacks in hiring/promotion nearly doubled between 2012 (~ 26%) and 2020 (~ 51%).
Source: ANES
Fun fact: Support for caste based and gender based reservations in India is ~4x+ higher than support for race based Affirmative Action in the US. See here.
Blacks Should Not Get Special Favors to Get Ahead
The percentage of Democrats strongly disagreeing with the statement nearly tripled between 2012 (~ 13%) and 2020 (~ 41%).
Source: ANES
See also Sniderman and Carmines who show that support for the statement is not rooted in racial prejudice.
Feelings Towards Racial Groups
Democrats in 2020 felt more warmly toward Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians than Whites.
Source: ANES
White Democrats’ Feelings Towards Various Racial Groups
White Democrats in 2020 felt more warmly toward Asians, Blacks, and Hispanics than Whites.
Democrats’ Feelings Towards Gender Groups
Democrats felt 15 points more warmly toward feminists and LGBT in 2020 than in 2012.
Source: ANES