How many of the Democrats' nonwhite activists and supporters are racists?

Think of Al Sharpton, whom MSNBC loves to love.

Hell, think of O's fundamental problems with white people and his spiritual guide of two decades' duration, Jeremiah Wright.

(Reminder: I voted for O twice and would again. I think he's been a good president.)

Racists vote, and often announce who they like and why.

It's not always pretty.

And I would like to point out that "racial anxiety" is not racism, nor is the perception of a racial threat.

So, OK, read Dana Milbank, though such perceptions and anxieties are all he needs to see to call people racists.

Trump’s many racist supporters

He quotes a recent Pew poll result that surprises me, in the face of Trump's popular Buchananism.

A Pew Research Center national poll released Thursday found that 59 percent of registered voters nationwide think that an increasing number of people from different races, ethnic groups and nationalities makes the United States a better place to live; only 8 percent say this makes America worse. 

Yes, that was the surprise.

On the other hand, what do white voters think?

And nonwhite voters?

Maybe that would be a lot less of a surprise.

Maybe I'm surprised only because I underestimate the percentage of nonwhite voters, and not at all because I am wrong about which voters would answer that question which way.

But among Trump backers, 39 percent say diversity improves America, while 42 percent say it makes no difference and 17 percent say it actually makes America worse. 

Supporters of GOP rivals Ted Cruz and John Kasich were significantly more upbeat on diversity.

This was no anomaly. 

The week before, my Post colleagues Max Ehrenfreund and Scott Clement reported on a Post/ABC News poll that asked whether people thought it more of a problem that African Americans and Latinos are “losing out because of preferences for whites” or that whites are “losing out because of preferences for blacks and Hispanics.”

Trump had the support of 34 percent of Republican-leaning voters overall, but among those who said that whites are losing out, 43 percent supported Trump. 

Ehrenfreund and Clement did a further analysis finding that racial anxiety was at least as important as economic anxiety — the factor most commonly associated with Trump backers — in predicting support for Trump. 

Though the two factors were statistically close, those “who voiced concerns about white status appeared to be even more likely to support Trump than those who said they were struggling economically.”