The Rest of the Story, Part II

By Sam Burnham
@C_SamBurnham

In the last post I addressed some of the errors in the study by three academics representing three different northern schools. The study purported that people who support the public display of Confederate symbols tend to know less about Confederate and Southern history than people who oppose the public display of such symbols.

While the process of determining support for the symbols in question and the historic knowledge of the study's subject both had fatal flaws that rendered them useless for serious contemplation, it was the last portion of the survey that unveiled both the predictable agenda of the study and its obvious bias.

As we step into the portion of the study which attempts to drill down into the heart of each subject and determine how each person feels about members of different races, we begin to see that this trio had set out to toss a familiar stereotype in a Southern direction hoping to see it stick once again. Let's look at the specifics, again, from the Georgia survey. 

   ​"To assess these competing perspectives, we regress support for the Confederate flag on knowledge about Southern history, feelings of attachment to the South, and a number of racial attitude measures: racial resentment (Kalmoe and Piston, 2013), opposition to interracial dating, and denial that Blacks are worse off than Whites when it comes to jobs and education. Control variables include ideology (measured as support for limited government), party identification, and select demographics (sex, age, education, birthplace, urbanicity, and home ownership). We estimate a logistic regression due to the structure of the dependent variable: respondents were coded “1” if they preferred the version of the state flag that prominently featured the Confederate battle emblem and “0” otherwise."

Once again, we see that fatal flaw surrounding the flag, scoring the current Georgia as if it was the pre-1956 flag, which it isn't. But now we see new claims. "resentment", "opposition", and "denial". So we can look into those. We had three (3) questions to determine support for symbols, two (2) questions to determine how much support we have for symbols, and then nine (9) questions to determine if we are racists.  - 

​Let's look at the questions:

In the United States today, do you think the average African American is better off, worse off, or just about as well off as the average white person in terms of income?
1. Better off  2. Worse off  3. Just about as well off

And what about education? Do you think the average African American is better off, worse off, or just about as well off as the average white person?
1. Better off  2. Worse off  3. Just about as well off
 
Finally, what about in terms of the types of jobs they have? Do you think the average African American is better off, worse off, or just about as well off as the average white person?
1. Better off  2. Worse off 3. Just about as well off

Honest question on these first three. What is an "average" white or black person in this survey? Speaking strictly for Georgians, the target of this particular survey, if the subjects live in the rural North Georgia mountains, they're going to see a lot of poor whites and almost no blacks. They are going to tend, from personal experience, to disagree while someone from Atlanta or the rural "Black Belt" region will see many poor black people and tend to agree. People from Georgia's suburbs will see a strong and diverse middle class and could go either way on this or they may go with choice three. This is a variable based on point of view, not resentment or denial. 
 
Would you object if a child of yours dated someone of a different race?
1. Yes  2. No

This is a strong hypothetical that has many variables. Would I object or the basis of race alone? No. Factoring religious, cultural, and other factors? Depends on the individual. It also depends a lot on what a person tells a poll taker and what a person does when faced with the real situation. 
 
Please tell me whether you Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, or Strongly Disagree with each of the following statements.  
First:  The Irish, Italians, Jews and other minorities overcame prejudice and worked their way up. Blacks should do the same without any special favors.
1. Strongly agree 2. Agree 3. Disagree 4. Strongly disagree
 
Generations of slavery and discrimination have created conditions that make it difficult for Blacks to work their way out of the lower class.
1. Strongly agree  2. Agree  3. Disagree  4. Strongly disagree
 
It is really a matter of people not trying hard enough; if Blacks would only try harder they could be just as well off as Whites.
1. Strongly agree  2. Agree  3. Disagree  4. Strongly disagree

Here we see a set of questions that are designed to corral Southern conservatives, especially from rural areas,  into a pen and brand them with the racist stamp. Do you believe in "White Privilege?" If you think the privilege issue is more related to class than race, you are a racist, even if your daily existence is being white and poor with little, if anything to do anything about it. Again, personal perspective can produce various answers here. 
 
More good jobs for Blacks mean fewer good jobs for members of other groups.
1. Strongly agree  2. Agree  3. Disagree  4. Strongly disagree

Statistically, I guess this is true the way it is written. I know what they are getting at here but it is sort of a trap. More good jobs is good and it doesn't matter which racial groups the new employees are from. And what are "other groups?" Are those groups strictly white or are they from other races? This is a poorly worded question.  
 
Some people think that discrimination against blacks is a big problem in this country, while others think that it is not a big a problem.  We would like to know what you think about it.
1. A lot  2. Some  3. None at all


With so many variables, and the fact that there are two questions to determine knowledge of history and 450% more questions for you to slip up and be a racist, I'm going to file this study where it belongs, in my trash can and move on to the next topic. This is merely a hit piece to label Southern conservatives as ignorant, racist, or both. Liberals who want to believe this study will do so, flaws and all. My two articles contain all the energy I plan to expend to change that.