A recent poll that asked fans if the NFL has done enough to “show respect for its black players” was rigged to make Republicans look like racists.
The L.A. Times/Survey Monkey poll of 7,950 participants was conducted between February 2 and 7 and asked a range of questions about the Super Bowl, the NFL, coronavirus policies, Joe Biden, and the risk of brain damage for players. But it also turned to race in two key questions.
In the key question, respondents were asked, “Do you think the NFL has done too much, just enough, or not enough to show respect for its black players?”
Overall, 33 percent said the league had not done enough, 44 percent said “just enough,” and 21 percent said too much.
But the poll also broke that question down along political party lines and found that 45 percent of Republicans say that the league has done “too much” to “support black players” while 57 percent of Democrats said, “not enough.”
A casual glance at that result makes it seem as if nearly half of Republicans don’t want the NFL to “respect” black players. But, of course, that would make half those Republicans “racists” in the eyes of the casual reader.
Indeed, that is pretty much how Yahoo News framed the poll. “The nation’s relentless culture wars appear to have taken a toll even on the NFL,” the site blared on Wednesday.
Yahoo added:
The poll can’t conclusively say why that decline has occurred, but two questions about the NFL’s handling of issues involving race provide some strong hints:
People who say they are less of a fan now than they were five years ago are more than twice as likely as everyone else to say the NFL is doing ‘too much to show respect for its Black players.’
According to this characterization, Republicans think showing “respect for black players” is a bad thing. Ergo, they’re racists.
But this poll question was engineered specifically to get a result to tar Republicans as racists. The question does not prove that Republicans don’t respect black players. What it shows is that Republicans are sick and tired of the constant paeans to Black Lives Matter and for pushing other left-wing narratives.
EAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY – SEPTEMBER 12: A detail of “Black Lives Matter” message on the helmet of Nate Hairston #27 of the Denver Broncos prior to the game against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium on September 12, 2021 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Alex Trautwig/Getty Images)
When that question is asked of conservatives, their immediate thoughts is of Colin Kaepernick disrespecting cops, the military, and the American flag and the league’s kowtowing to his hate. They think of the league spending hundreds of millions on “social justice” causes that maintain that Americans are irredeemably racist. They think of players wearing the names of “victims of police brutality” on their uniforms. They remember players holding up a militant black power fist during the national anthem.
SANTA CLARA, CA – SEPTEMBER 12: Colin Kaepernick #7 and Eric Reid #35 of the San Francisco 49ers kneel in protest during the national anthem prior to playing the Los Angeles Rams in their NFL game at Levi’s Stadium on September 12, 2016 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
In short, the question evokes the whole milieu of the NFL pushing the hard-core, anti-American, anti-police, left-wing narrative and leaving sports as a secondary concern.
But to the left’s mind, it is solely about race. And that is how this poll is being reported.
The poll also offered a second question aimed at making the right look like racists.
“The ‘Rooney Rule’ is NFL policy requiring teams to interview minority candidates for coaching and high-level jobs to increase the diversity of teams’ management. Do you approve or disapprove of this policy?” the poll asked.
MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA – JANUARY 09: Head coach Brian Flores of the Miami Dolphins walks the field prior to the game against the New England Patriots at Hard Rock Stadium on January 09, 2022 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Again, Republicans were not fond of this concept. The poll adds, “Big party gap here: Support among Republicans is just half as high as it is among Democrats (42% vs. 85%); it’s 67% among independents.”
The left will also frame this result as racism and contend that Republicans don’t want blacks to become head coaches. But this is also a fundamental and purposeful misreading of what Republicans actually think about this question.
When Republicans see racial quotas, they automatically think ill of them, not because they are racists, but because they fundamentally feel that race should not be an issue for who is the best person for a given job. A Democrat sees a racial quota as “justice” used to force employers to hire blacks. Republicans see a racial quota as an effort to force people into a job based on their race, not their qualifications. Racial quotas are not seen as a racial issue to Republicans. They are seen as a violation of the American principle of finding the best person for a job. And they don’t feel blacks are unqualified because they are black.
Indeed, the poll even contains a small hint that racism is not in the minds of the Republican respondents. This third question garnered a clear majority who think that the NFL isn’t doing enough to protect players from brain injuries.
The question was asked: “Do you think the NFL has done too much, just enough, or not enough to respond to the risk of long-term brain damage among its athletes?”
The poll authors noted that “a clear majority” of 62 percent say that the NFL isn’t doing enough to protect players. Additionally, the breakdown finds, “72% of Democrats say the NFL hasn’t done enough vs. 54% of Republicans and 61% of independents.”
Indeed, only five percent feel that the league is doing “too much” on the brain injury issue, while 27 percent say that the league is doing “just enough.”
If Republicans hated black players so much, why did a majority of them feel that the NFL isn’t doing enough to protect the players from CTE injuries? And why did such a tiny number overall feel the league is doing “too much” if there was such widespread racism?
This poll was aimed at smearing Republicans. And the way Yahoo News reported it, the scheme worked. Yahoo isn’t alone, either. Check out these other headlines casting Republicans as racists:
- New Poll Shows Many Republicans Frown at NFL’s Vow to Support Black Players, Newsweek
- New Poll Shows Many Republicans Are Outraged at the NFL’s Resolve to Support Black Players, The Greeley Tribune
- Even With Super Bowl, NFL Makes it Hard to be a Black Fan, L.A. Times
The implication in these pieces is that white Republicans are racists. And that is what the poll set out to find in the first place.
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