Only White People Support the Death Penalty
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In a month that has seen the exoneration of both the world's and our nation's longest-serving death row inmates, it is worth asking: where the hell does all the support for the death penalty come from? The answer may not surprise you.
Today brings us a new, up-to-date survey from the Pew Center about America's attitudes towards the death penalty. A meager 55% of Americans now support capital punishment. More is revealed when you consider that the following is the only racial demographic group in which a majority of members support the death penalty:
-White people (63% support)
Support is even higher among white evangelical Protestants. Among Latino people, 36% support the death penalty; among black people, 40% support it. (Those are the only racial groups included in the survey figures.)
America's death row population includes a far higher percentage of black people than are represented in the population at large.
As American gets less white, it seems to be getting less bloodthirsty as well.
[Photo: AP]