Republicans Split on Whether or Not ‘History of Racism’ Should Be Taught in Schools, New Poll Finds
Former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (L) (D-VA) and Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin (R) particpate in a debate. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
A new Monmouth University poll looked into questions surrounding race and education in the U.S. and found that while a vast majority of Americans approve of teaching “the history of racism” in public schools (75 percent), only a slim majority of self-identified Republicans do (54 percent).
The polling breakdown released Wednesday, titled “Biden’s Plans More Popular Than President,” looked into specific questions regarding messaging surrounding education, racism, and Critical Race Theory (CRT).
The polling summary explains:
As a test of message framing, the Monmouth University Poll asked two different questions about teaching race in public schools – something that has become a national hot button issue and figured into this year’s Virginia governor’s race. Among the one half of the poll sample that was asked about teaching “the history of racism” in public schools, 75% approved – including majorities of Democrats (94%), independents (75%), and Republicans (54%). The other half of the sample that was asked about teaching “critical race theory” in public schools produced only 43% support overall – ranging from 75% of Democrats to 40% of independents and 16% of Republicans.
Republican Glenn Youngkin’s surprise and decisive victory in the Virginia gubernatorial race earlier this month has been attributed in part to concerns over CRT and education – a key issue looking forward to the 2022 midterm elections.
The poll was conducted from November 4 to 8 (after the Virginia vote) with a national random sample of 811 adults age 18 and older. The polling was done in English both by a live interviewer on a landline telephone (for 283 participants) and a live interviewer on a cell phone (528 participants). The poll has a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percentage points.
