Nearly half of white American millennials think they face similar discrimination to minorities

New polling data from the Univesity of Chicago suggests that almost half of white millennials in America think that they face a similar amount of discimination as black people or people from other minorities.

The GenForward survey released on 31 October interviewed 1,800 adults, between the ages of 18-34 from all 50 states and the District of Columbia between August 31 and September 16, to come to discuss their findings.

When asked whether they agreed or disagreed that discrimination against whites has become as big a problem as discrimination against blacks and other minorities, 48% of white millennial respondents said they agreed. Of African-American interviewees, 71% disagreed. 77% of Asian-American interviewees similarly disagreed along with 72% of Latinx participants.

According to the researchers, the objective of the poll was to apply an intersectional lens to how young adults consider topics of the day.

Though millennials from all racial backgrounds gave racism as one of the top three most important issues facing the country, there was still a split, with 52% of African-American respondents citing racism as a top problem, while 32% of Asian-Americans, 33% of Latinx and 26% of white respondents similarly citing racism.

For white and Asian-American respondents, the top issue was health cases, while for 39% of Latinx it was immigration. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Principal Investigator Cathy J. Cohen added that the survey did not give them a way to tell whether each groups' definitions of racism might differ.

Another hot button topic in the US that saw millennial respondents split, was the symbolism of the Confederate flag - pertinent as discussions around Confederate symbols, particularly statues of Confederate generals, heat up around the country.

Large majorities of African-American (83%), Asian-American (71%) and Latinx (65%) interviewees said that they thought the Confederate flag was a symbol of racism over a symbol of Southern pride, while only 43% of whites agreed - 55% of whites said the flag was a symbol of Southern pride.

The split is similar over the question of whether or not to remove Confederate statues and symbols from public places with 62% of white respondents saying they opposed such moves and 73% of African-American respondents saying they supported them.

Though many current race-related issued in the US have also featured talked of the 'alt-right', Cohen said there were "a significant group of millennials across groups who would say 'I just don't know enough to answer this question'" when asked about the movement.

"Millennials are ushering in a new era of American society, one that is the most racially and ethnically diverse in history as well as one defined by youth-led social movements aimed at raising awareness and rectifying issues of injustice," the GenFoward report said.

"No longer the baseline, norm, or default, white Millennials often, though not always, find themselves at odds with their peers of color. It will be important for activists, politicians and journalists to take note of the brewing political conflicts that exist among different groups of Millennials."