One year after the anniversary of the murder of George Floyd, the conversation around race relations in the United States is still happening on a daily basis. Racism and the institutional structures built in the United States were shown to be interconnected deeply and more powerfully than many could possibly imagine.
But not every American is on the same page about this issue, specifically not White Republicans, who in a recent poll conducted by Axios-Ipsos, were shown to believe things were equal in the USA for Black people by a large margin.
That disconnect leads directly to legislation seeking to silence learning about or discussions of racism.
The overall results saw that a majority of Americans, around 59%, say the country needs to continue making changes, but this broke down alarmingly between Democrats and Republicans: only 21% of White Republicans said the country would need to continue making changes, whereas 88% of White Democrats said the same.
Respondents to the Axios/Ipsos poll were also asked if they agreed or disagreed with the statement "America is not a racist country."
White Republicans were 12 times more likely than White Democrats to agree.
The same poll showed violence against Black Americans by the police had actually escalated in the past year.
One thing these polls make clear is there is a great disparity in the realities of White people and people of color in the United States, which alone is a sign the country has not done enough to ensure equal rights and treatment of its racial and ethnic groups.
One year after the incident that lit a movement on fire, the work only becomes more difficult and more clear.
Hopefully the United States, despite its setbacks, can rise to the occasion.
