Large racial gaps remain between whites, blacks in US: Poll

Eight years after Barack Obama’s election as America’s first black president, there are still profound differences between black and white adults in their views on racial discrimination, barriers to black progress and the prospects for change, a survey has found.

An overwhelming majority of blacks, or 88 percent, say the US needs to continue making changes for blacks to have equal rights with whites, but 43 percent express doubt that such changes will ever occur, according to a Pew Research Center survey.

An additional 42 percent of African Americans say that the nation will ultimately make the changes needed for blacks to have equal rights with whites, and just 8 percent say the country has already made the required changes.

Compared to blacks, a much lower share of whites, 53 percent, believe the country needs to continue making changes for blacks to achieve equal rights with whites, and only 11 percent are skeptical that these changes will occur.

In recent years, this centuries-old racial gap in the US has gained renewed attention following the fatal shootings of unarmed African Americans during encounters with the police.

The survey finds that there is a huge disparity in the way black and white adults perceive what life is like for blacks in the US.

For example, by huge margins, blacks are much more likely than whites to say black people are treated unfairly in the workplace, in dealing with the police, when applying for a loan, in the courts, in stores or restaurants, and when voting in elections.

Also by wide margins, blacks are also more likely than whites to say racial discrimination, lower quality schools and lack of jobs are major reasons that blacks may have a harder time to make achievement compared to whites.

A quarter of Americans also say Obama has made race relations worse, although blacks and whites differ significantly in their assessments.

Relatively few blacks, 5 percent, say Obama has made race relations worse, while 9 percent say he hasn’t addressed the issue at all. About half of blacks say Obama has made progress toward improving race relations, and an additional 34 percent say he has tried but failed to make progress.

Among whites, a substantial share of whites, 32 percent, say Obama has made race relations worse, while 28 percent say Obama has made progress toward improving race relations and 24 percent say he has tried but failed to make progress.

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