I don't believe that the majority of American conservatives hold racist views, but it seem to be true of the Tea Partiers, who are also likely to homophobic and sexists, because fearful people tend to be fearful of many things. From The Daily Dish:
A recent book on the Tea Party by Christopher Parker and Matt Barreto suggests that hate of Obama unifies the group:
According to Parker and Barreto, 91 percent of Tea Party supporters hold negative opinions of Obama. (This beats the 82 percent who hold negative views of illegal immigrants, and, even more tellingly, the 85 percent who report a preference for limited government.) Sixty-seven percent of Tea Party supporters believe that Obama is a socialist, and 71 percent think he will destroy the country. Destroy the country! In contravention of basic, established facts, solid majorities do not believe that he is a Christian (71 percent) or that he was born in the United States (59 percent). Parker and Barreto take pains to distinguish these views from those of non-Tea Party conservatives, and to ensure—by means of regression analysis—that Tea Party affinity, and not some other factor like support for the Republican Party, accounts for the figures.
We can have compassion for people's fears without upholding those fears. Just like those with racists views in the 1950s and 1960s, many of those people eventually renounced their past political beliefs and found love in their hearts, including Alabama Governor George Wallace, who apologized to African-Americans for the things he said and did.
Similarly, the LGBT must be strong advocates for our rights, but never give up on anyone. Love does change the world.
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