New Poll Shows Texas Republicans Believe Christians, White People Most Discriminated Against

Some experts are warning that Christian nationalism is on the rise, shaping American politics. Hate crimes recently skyrocketed to the highest point in 12 years, led by a spike in offenses against Black and Asian people.

But certain Texas Republicans see things a little differently, according to a new poll. Some believe it’s white people and God-fearing Christians who face the most hate.

Earlier this week, the University of Texas/Texas Politics Project released a poll showing that 74% of Texas Democrats believe that either Black or transgender people endure the highest level of discrimination in the nation. Republicans were split between white folks (34%) or Christians (31%).

This comes as conservative politicians and local leaders are cracking down on trans rights, driving pro-LGBTQ+ teachers from classrooms and banning anti-racist lessons.

Still, Texas U.S. Rep. Chip Roy appeared on FOX earlier this year, in February, to warn of the threat Christians supposedly face worldwide, including here in the U.S.

A member of Finland’s parliament, Päivi Räsänen, was on trial for her beliefs, Roy said. He lambasted the controversy as a “war on religious freedom.” (Räsänen was accused of provoking anti-LGBT+ hate speech after she derided homosexuality as a “disorder of psychosexual development” and called gay people “dysfunctional,” according to Euronews.)

“This is a really chilling reality in a Western civilization country,” Roy said. “This isn’t Iran; this isn’t China. This is Finland, and the American people need to know this is coming to a theater near you.”

Roy went on to admonish the Equality Act, which, if passed, would prohibit discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation and gender identity in every state. He said much can be learned from Holocaust survivors, adding that the worst crime leading to German Nazis' mass extermination of minority groups was "silence."

Prosecutors had offered Räsänen and a bishop embroiled in the controversy a deal: Walk away from your faith to evade prosecution, Roy continued. She didn’t accept.
“Americans, this is coming to you,” he said. “Let’s stand with these brave Finnish patriots and make sure that we’re fighting for our religious liberty.” (In March, Räsänen and the bishop who reprinted one of her anti-LGBTQ pamphlets were acquitted on all charges.)

Lone Star State conservatives aren’t the only ones who think this way. In a 2020 national survey by the Public Religion Research Institute, nearly three-quarters (73%) of Republicans who trusted FOX most out of all TV news reported that they believed Christians face “a lot of discrimination.” Around 58% said white people are often discriminated against.

The numbers were smaller, though, when FOX Republicans were asked about racial/ethnic minorities: 36% believed Black people endure such bias. Just 34% of participants said the same for Hispanic people and 27% for Asian people.