There is a massive divide in attitudes to race issues between supporters of President Joe Biden and those who support Donald Trump, a new study has found.

A survey by the Washington-based think tank, The Pew Research Center in the run up to the US Presidential election in November, found voters who favour Joe Biden and those who favour Donald Trump hold very different views about race and ethnicity in American society.

“Among registered voters, eight-in-ten Biden supporters say that White people benefit at least a fair amount from advantages in society that Black people do not have. By contrast, only 22 per cent of Trump supporters say this,” the study said.

There is a similar divide in opinion about the continued impact the legacy of slavery has on Black Americans: Most Biden supporters (79 per cent) say it continues to have at least a fair amount of impact. Among Trump supporters, a far smaller share (27 per cent) say slavery’s legacy continues to affect Black people in the US.

Overall, about half of registered voters (51 per cent) say that White people benefit at least a fair amount from advantages in society that Black people do not have, though the share who say this is down 4 percentage points in the last two years and 8 points since 2020.

The share of voters who say White people benefit a great deal from advantages in society has decreased from 32 per cent in 2022 to 24 per cent today.

“Most of this change has taken place among Democrats. From the summer of 2020 through the autumn of 2022, roughly six-in-ten Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters said that White people benefited a great deal from advantages in society that Black people did not have. But fewer (44 per cent) say this today – a decrease of 15 points in two years,” the study said.

Just 5 per cent of Republican voters say that White people benefit a great deal from advantages in society – essentially unchanged in recent years.

The study found Black voters were more likely than voters in other racial and ethnic groups to say that White people benefit from advantages in society that Black people do not have.

Nearly two-thirds of Black voters (66 per cent) say that White people benefit a great deal from advantages in society that Black people do not have.

By comparison, about three-in-ten Asian (31 per cent) and Hispanic voters (30 per cent) say this, along with just 16per cent of White voters.

Majorities of Asian (79 per cent) and Hispanic voters (66 per cent) say that White people benefit at least a fair amount, while 42 per cent of White voters and 84 per cent of Black voters say this.

The study found most voters, but not all, voters viewed the US’ cultural diversity as a strength.

“Nearly two-thirds of voters (65 per cent) say the fact that the US population is made up of people of many different races, ethnicities and religions strengthens American society,” the study said.

“About one-in-ten (11 per cent) say this weakens American society, while 23 per cent say it doesn’t make much difference.”

The report’s authors said the degree to which Black Americans continue to be affected by the legacy of slavery and whether White Americans benefit from societal advantages Black Americans do not have are some of the starkest differences identified.

They also said gaps between Biden and Trump supporters over perceptions of the impact of the nation’s growing diversity were almost as wide.

Read the full report: Biden and Trump voters’ attitudes on race ahead of election 2024 | Pew Research Center