Poll: Republicans split on whether blackface is a problem

Americans as a whole say, 56 percent to 23 percent, that it’s unacceptable for a white person to wear blackface makeup in order to appear as a black person for a costume. Democrats say it’s unacceptable by a wider 78 percent to 12 percent. Republicans, by contrast, are close to evenly divided, with 36 percent calling blackface acceptable, 38 percent calling it unacceptable, and the rest unsure.

Opinions are also divided starkly along racial lines. Black Americans say, 80 percent to 6 percent, that blackface is unacceptable, with 13 percent unsure; white Americans call blackface unacceptable by a smaller 50 percent to 27 percent margin, with 22 percent uncertain. Southern Democrats ― many of whom are black ― say by a 74-point margin that white people wearing blackface is unacceptable, while Democrats in the rest of the country say it’s unacceptable by a 62-point margin.

And there’s an even sharper divide along the lines of the last presidential election. Hillary Clinton voters say by a 72-point margin that blackface is unacceptable. Donald Trump voters say, by a 10-point margin, that it’s OK.