A record high share of nonblack Americans say the chasm between blacks’ and whites’ standards of living is due to discrimination against blacks, with fewer people blaming lack of will power, according to a long-running national survey released Tuesday. The biennial General Social Survey found 41 percent of nonblack Americans […] Read more »
Americans say even the legal breaks for college admission are rigging the system
It’s not just the illegal efforts to game college admissions that alarm most Americans. While allegations that rich parents cheated their children’s way into elite universities have captured headlines, a new USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll also finds overwhelming public opposition to the legal breaks for college admission available to athletes, […] Read more »
Admissions scandal reveals ‘aristocracy masquerading as a meritocracy’
With its toxic blend of arrogance and entitlement, the college admission cheating scandal has touched a deep nerve across the country. But it represents only the most visible inequity in a higher education system that many critics believe now does more to stratify privilege than to expand opportunity. … As […] Read more »
Fixing Inequality: More Opportunity is Not the Answer
Now that the decades of rapidly rising economic inequality have become evident to all, the center of public debate has shifted toward the question of what, if anything, can be done to reverse the trend. … Polls show that most Americans, even many rank-and-file Republicans, dislike growing inequality and endorse, […] Read more »
Reparations and Black Americans’ Attitudes About Race
According to a recent report in the Washington Post, at least four Democratic presidential candidates — Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Julian Castro and Marianne Williamson — in one way or the other favor the idea of African-American reparations. … My colleagues Jeff Jones and Mohamed Younis recently reviewed new Gallup […] Read more »
Americans’ Long-Standing Interest in Taxing the Rich
Proposals to increase taxes on high-income earners and the wealthy are coming back into vogue. Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has argued for a tax rate of up to 54% on the top income bracket, along with increased estate taxes. Candidate Elizabeth Warren would impose a “wealth tax” on assets of […] Read more »