Surging Pride Among Blacks Greets Obama's Nomination

Aug. 27, 2008 — -- Nearly two-thirds of African-Americans believe their child could be president -- far more than the number of whites who say so, and an example of the surging pride blacks express in Barack Obama's nomination for the presidency.

It shows up in other ways: More than six in 10 blacks also say Obama's nomination has made them more proud to be an American. Ninety percent say that if elected Obama would be a leading role model for young black men. And large majorities of blacks and whites alike see the nomination as a sign of progress for blacks in general.

Click here for a PDF with charts and full questionnaire.

Obama on Thursday will become the first African-American to accept a major party's nomination for the presidency.

His acceptance speech coincides with the 45th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech.

In that famous address, King said: "1963 is not an end, but a beginning." Also: "We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote."

Among this ABC News/Washington Post survey's results:

Sixty-four percent of blacks think their child could grow up to be president. Among whites, it's 46 percent. That view among blacks is higher than it was in an ABC News/Washington Post poll in 1992, indicating an effect of Obama's successful candidacy.

Sixty-four percent of blacks also say Obama's nomination makes them more proud to be an American. Thirty-two percent of whites say the same.

Ninety percent of blacks, and 75 percent of whites, think that Obama as president would serve as a leading role model to young black men.

Seventy-six percent of blacks, and about as many whites (71 percent) think Obama's nomination represents progress for all blacks more generally.

Blacks in the past have expressed about equal overall levels of national pride as whites, but with less intensity -- blacks have been substantially less likely to describe themselves as "extremely" proud to be Americans.

Reasons for some disaffection are apparent: In June 54 percent of blacks said African-Americans in their own community experience racial discrimination.

In previous polls as many have said they've personally experienced discrimination, four in 10 have reported being stopped by the police solely because of their race, six in 10 say they've been made to feel unwelcome in a store because of their race, and majorities have perceived unequal treatment of blacks in hiring, housing and the criminal justice system.