RACE, REFORM, FOREIGN AFFAIRS ISSUES

(Week 6)

(Note: these are actual class notes, valuable to those having an excused class absence, or those wishing to review their class notes for the test. Double spaced notes reflect subjects that are so important that they are likely to be asked about on a test.)

There has been increased white liberalization over the last sixty years when it comes to the concept of support for integrated schools, neighborhoods, and voting for an African American for President. As late as the 1960s in the South, most whites opposed integrated schools, and only 7% of voting age African Americans in Mississippi were permitted to vote. After the 1980 census and federal court-ordered redistricting, Mississippi came to boast the highest number of black elected public officials in the nation. In this century, we have witnessed the first elected African Americans as President and Vice President of the United States, as well as the first appointed Secretaries of State under President Bush (Colin Powell and Condi Rice).

Despite some improvements, there is increased concern over the state of race relations and of racial discrimination in the United States. From 2016 thru 2020 over 60% of Americans thought that race relations in our country were “generally bad” rather than “generally good.” (Only about a third were so negative in 2013). Whites and blacks often have different perceptions of how great the problem is, with about half of African Americans believing that blacks do not “have as good a chance” as whites in their community “to get any kind of job for which they are qualified,” and nearly half believing that there is “a lot” of discrimination against African Americans “in our society today.” Over 80% of whites disagree with these sentiments. Similarly, about three-fourths of African Americans believe that the police are more likely to use deadly force against blacks than against whites, with about 70% saying that the police are treated too leniently by the criminal justice system when causing “injury or death in the course of their job.” Only about one-third of whites agree with these sentiments. About half of African Americans have personally felt that on at least one occasion they were treated unfairly by a police officer because of their race, compared to only 3% of whites. We find similar racial divisions on the issue of racial profiling in Mississippi, using a poll question included by our PhD student Lashonda Stewart, who is today a professor at Southern Illinois University. Therefore, a Quinnipiac 2021 poll found that only 28% of blacks approved "of the way the police in the United States are doing their job," compared to 65% of whites. What do you all think about this issue? Have you ever been a victim of discrimination or racial profiling?

One policy designed to deal with these problems is Affirmative Action. An excellent poll asking about many specific aspects of affirmative action was conducted by USA Today in 1995, after Republicans gained control of both chambers of Congress and President Clinton pleaded for them to Mend, Don’t End the policy. Over 70% of whites did indeed support more benign and helpful programs that were not viewed as discriminating against whites, such as “outreach, identification, and encouraging blacks to apply for jobs,” “job training programs to improve qualifications to get better jobs,” and “special educational programs to make them better qualified for college.” Most colleges and some law schools have such programs (retention programs like immediate readmission after suspension, taking a few law courses in the summer to reduce the freshman load), and they are open to and help students of all races. Over 60% of whites oppose programs that are viewed as reverse discrimination, such as “college scholarships available for only women and minorities,” “quotas for jobs or college admissions,” or “favoring a less qualified minority over a white in a business with few minority workers.” General discussion of this subject in higher education hiring and promotion of professors, and scholarships and programs helping students (mention 2023 Supreme Court decision striking down affirmative action in university admissions procedures).

Flags and Monuments. As late as 2015, about half of Americans nationally saw the Confederate flag as “a symbol of Southern pride,” rather than as “a symbol of racism.” African Americans saw the flag quite differently with 68% viewing it as racism and only 21% as southern pride. Between 2017 and 2020, American opinions nationally reversed on the issue of Confederate statues in public places, with half of Americans initially opposing their removal (39% favoring removal), but by 2020 52% favored removing them and only 44% were opposed. These figures provide some context to President Trump’s controversial statement about there being “some very fine people on both sides” of the Charlottesville protests. Our own MSU student athletes and one of our Stennis Scholar alumni were instrumental in getting Mississippi to change its own state flag. Class discussion of this general subject.

Historically, America has been an isolationist country, as we benefitted from vast natural resources and two oceans that protected us from invasion. It took being dragged into two world wars and then facing a nuclear-armed Soviet Union (Russia and its old Republics) that had militarily occupied half of Europe to make us realize that we have to be Internationalist and permanently involved in world affairs. Isolationist sentiment was reflected in defeated liberal Democrat presidential candidate in 1972 George McGovern (who opposed the Vietnam War and our support for anti-communist authoritarian nations) and President Trump (favoring America First, he fought for more favorable trade deals, demanded that other nations pay more for their own defense, and began withdrawing our troops from long-time wars).

Public support for defense spending varies based on the perceived threats and our own perceived strength or weakness. See textbook, page 103. Support for defense spending hit highs: in 1980, after the Soviet Union invaded the neutral south Asian country of Afghanistan and after the Islamic extremist government of Iran seized 52 American diplomats as hostages; and in 2004 after the terrorist attack on American soil and our entry into the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. Support for defense spending hit lows after: growing opposition to the Vietnam War in 1972; the freeing of East European countries from communism in 1989 and the disintegration of the Soviet Union itself in 1991.

If you get into a war, win it. The Gulf War of 1990-91 was quick and successful, and President George Herbert Walker Bush’s popularity shot up to 90% (though he still lost re-election because of the recession). The Korean War and Vietnam both dragged on for years with many American casualties, so both Presidents Truman and Johnson declined to run for re-election. By 2006 Americans were tired of the long Afghanistan and Iraq wars, so Republicans lost control of both chambers of Congress under President Bush. World War 2 took years with many casualties, but the threat was clear, our goal was unconditional surrender, and our progress in winning territory was also clear.

On many specific foreign policy issues, people don’t really know enough about them to have any firm opinion. That is the case with the Iran Nuclear Deal, which President Obama’s Secretary of State John Kerry negotiated through an executive agreement not requiring a two-thirds Senate vote, and which President Trump terminated. Over half of Americans in two polls (averaged) didn’t know enough to have an opinion. Trump's Secretary of State claimed that most Americans couldn't find Ukraine on a map, yet Gallup as late as 2023 found that over 60% of Americans favored helping Ukraine regain territory seized by Russia even if it meant a more prolonged conflict.

Immigration. A significant majority of Americans believe that “immigration is good for the country” rather than bad, that “illegal immigrants mostly take jobs Americans don’t want,” and most believe that illegals are no more likely to commit violent crimes than are other Americans. Most Americans reject both ideological extremes, as a majority opposed building a wall, but also opposed providing health insurance for illegals or decriminalizing illegal border crossings. In 2019, Americans preferred the current level of immigration rather than increasing or decreasing it, and 64% favored a path to citizenship for illegals (65% in 2021).

Political Reform. Some contemporary issues to debate in class:

1) Should Washington D.C. be made a state?

2) Should federal elections be federalized, with universal mail in voting up to a month before the election, the enfranchisement of felons, ballot harvesting permitted?

3) Should the Supreme Court have fixed terms instead of life? Should the size of the Supreme Court be increased?