Poll: Race Relations Improving
Jan. 23 -- Blacks and whites are breaking bread in record numbers, and public views of race relations have improved markedly in recent years.
But there's still a huge disconnect between the races in perceptions of how blacks are treated in local communities, an ABCNEWS/Washington Post poll found.
For most white Americans, the view is one of equality: At least eight in 10 whites think blacks in their communities have an equal chance to get jobs for which they're qualified, housing they can afford, fair treatment from merchants and quality schools for their kids. Two-thirds of whites also think blacks get equal treatment from the police.
But black Americans differ — and by huge margins. Fewer than half of blacks think they have an equal shot at housing in their community, or get equal treatment from local merchants. Fewer still — 39 percent — think blacks have an equal chance at jobs. And just 28 percent think blacks receive equal treatment from the police in their community.
In one area, public education, majorities of whites and blacks alike see equal opportunity, but here, too, the gap is vast. Ninety-two percent of whites think black children in their communities have an equal chance to attend a good public school; 58 percent of blacks agree.
This ABCNEWS/Washington Post poll was conducted to accompany a special Nightline town meeting in Jasper, Texas, where a black man was chained to a pickup truck and dragged to his death in a 1998 hate crime. The program, "Two Towns of Jasper," airs Thursday at 11:35 p.m. ET.
All Groups Reflect Improving View of Race Relations
Despite these differing perceptions, the poll includes positive results on the state of race relations, on personal, local and national levels. Most broadly, 54 percent of whites think race relations in this country are good, and 44 percent of blacks agree. While surely these could be better, each is up by about 20 points from a 1997 ABCNEWS/Washington Post poll.
Ratings are more positive locally. Eighty percent of whites, and 73 percent of blacks, say race relations in their own communities are good or even "excellent." (Sixty-eight percent of Americans describe their community as mixed racially; 29 percent say it's mostly white.)
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