Are Whites More Discriminated Against Than Blacks?

A post-racial America? Think again.

According to a new study conducted by sociologists at Harvard and Tufts universities, American whites believe that they are more discriminated against than blacks. Respondents were asked to rate 'racism' against both groups on a scale from one to 10. Of the 209 white and 208 black men and women surveyed, the results were telling. According to Mail Online,

...while both blacks and whites saw anti-black racism decreasing over the decades, whites saw race relations as a 'zero sum game' where they were losing out as blacks 'gained' the advantage.

The study found that, on average, blacks noticed anti-white bias increasing when comparing the 1950s to today. Taking into account the same time frame, blacks also saw racism against themselves steeply decline. Whites, though, reported very different perceptions:

For the 2000s, 11 per cent of whites gave anti-white bias the maximum 10 out of 10 rating, compared with only two per cent of whites who did so for anti-black bias.

Whites believed that discrimination against them had increased from an average of 1.8 in the 1950s to 4.7 in the 2000s.

Researchers looked at other studies that seemed to indicate that whites typically view any focus on minorities as an attack on white peoples' values. It should be noted that the pool of individuals included in this study was relatively small. Many researchers seek to survey 1,000 respondents at minimum to ensure that the results are truly representative of the broader society (or cohort).

If these results are true, race continues to be an issue worthy of discussion and debate in contemporary American society.