The Black American Experience: Here Is What We Have Learned

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- This month, the Gallup Center on Black Voices celebrates its one-year anniversary. In July of last year, Gallup made a 100-year commitment to study the experiences and life outcomes of the more than 40 million adult Black Americans.

At that time, the highest percentage of Americans since 1968 considered race relations the most important problem facing the U.S. -- and the issue has remained relatively elevated since.

The protests that erupted after George Floyd's murder last year drew widespread public support, including 92% among Black Americans. More than one in four young adults, aged 18 to 29, said they participated in a protest about racial justice and equality.

	Support protests
	%
U.S. adults	65
Black adults	92
GALLUP PANEL, JUNE 23-JULY 6, 2020

Two in Three Americans Support Racial Justice Protests

The Black Experience With Police in the U.S.

Black Americans are less likely than other groups to feel confident about being treated respectfully in interactions with police in their area.

	Very confident	Somewhat confident	Not too confident	Not at all confident
	%	%	%	%
U.S. adults	48	37	11	4
Black adults	18	43	27	12
GALLUP PANEL, JUNE 23-JULY 6, 2020

Not only are Black Americans much less likely to feel confident that they would be treated with courtesy and respect, but they are far more likely to say they know people who were treated unfairly by the police, unfairly sent to jail or stayed in jail because they didn't have enough bond money. Young Black adults are even more likely to know people who have experienced mistreatment from the police and the justice system -- and are more likely to know someone who remained in jail because they could not afford bail.

	Treated unfairly by police	Unfairly sent to jail	Stayed in jail because they didn't have enough bail money
	% A lot/some	% A lot/some	% A lot/some
U.S. adults	41	19	23
Black adults	71	50	51
Black adults aged 18-44	83	61	56
GALLUP PANEL, JUNE 23-JULY 6, 2020

Black Adults More Likely to Know People Mistreated by Police

Confidence in the police, more generally, continues to lag among Black Americans, with far fewer having a great deal or quite a lot of confidence than is true for White Americans.

In U.S., Black Confidence in Police Recovers From 2020 Low

Despite their subdued confidence in the police and broad awareness of negative experiences, the majority of Black Americans would prefer that police maintain their current presence in their area. Meanwhile, as many would rather the police spend more time in their area as want them to spend less time.

	More time	Same amount of time	Less time
	%	%	%
U.S. adults	19	67	14
Black adults	20	61	19
GALLUP PANEL, JUNE 23-JULY 6, 2020

Black Americans Want Police to Retain Local Presence

Black Americans are much less likely than White Americans to feel safe walking alone at night in the city or area where they live -- and Black women feel even less safe.

Black Americans Less Likely to Feel Safe in Their Community

When it comes to police reform, nearly all Americans believe that policing in the U.S. needs major or minor changes. Nearly nine in 10 Black Americans believe major changes are needed.

	Major changes needed	Minor changes needed	No changes needed
	%	%	%
U.S. adults	58	36	6
Black adults	88	10	2
GALLUP PANEL, JUNE 23-JULY 6, 2020

Most Americans Say Policing Needs 'Major Changes'

Some policing reforms enjoy broad support across racial and party lines.

	U.S. adults	Black Americans
	%	%
Changing management practices so officers with multiple incidents of abuse of power are not allowed to serve	98	99
Requiring officers to have good relations with the community	97	97
Changing management practices so officer abuses are punished	96	98
Promoting community-based alternatives such as violence intervention	82	94
Ending stop and frisk	74	93
Eliminating police unions	56	61
Eliminating officer enforcement of nonviolent crimes	50	72
Reducing the budgets of police departments and shifting the money to social programs	47	70
Abolishing police departments	15	22
GALLUP PANEL, JUNE 23-JULY 6, 2020

Black Opportunities and Experiences of Mistreatment

But the national conversation didn't stop with policing. Americans were beginning to acknowledge the racial disparities that exist in other systems in the U.S, including education, housing and job opportunities.

Optimism About Black Americans' Opportunities in U.S. Falls

One in four Black workers reported experiences of discrimination at their jobs in the past 12 months.

	Yes
	%
U.S. employees	18
Black employees	24
Hispanic employees	24
White employees	15
Gallup Panel, Nov. 6-Dec. 1, 2020

One in Four Black Workers Report Discrimination at Work

A more recent survey, which asked respondents about their experiences in the past 30 days, found that more than a third of Black Americans had experienced unfair treatment in a store while they were shopping. More than one in five reported similar experiences in a restaurant, bar, theater or other entertainment place.

	Yes, treated unfairly
	%
In a store where you were shopping	35
In a restaurant, bar, theater or other entertainment place	21
In dealings with the police, such as traffic incidents	20
At your place of work	17
While getting healthcare for yourself or a family member	17
GALLUP, JUNE 1-JULY 5, 2021

Black Americans' Reports of Mistreatment Steady or Higher

Black Americans are more likely than other groups to report having been on the receiving end of microaggressions, including receiving worse service at restaurants and stores, and people treating them with fear or with less respect or courtesy than other people.

	Very often/Often
	%
People acted as if they were better than you	32
People acted as if they thought you were not smart	25
You were treated with less courtesy than other people	22
You were treated with less respect than other people	20
People acted as if they thought you were dishonest	19
People acted as if they were afraid of you	18
You received worse service than other people at restaurants or stores	14
GALLUP PANEL, JUNE 23-JULY 6, 2020

The impact of discrimination at work on Black employees who report having experienced discrimination is heavier than is the case for White employees. Fewer Black employees who were discriminated against are considered "thriving" in their life evaluation ratings than Black employees who did not experience discrimination.

Understanding the Effects of Discrimination in the Workplace

Black Americans are also less likely to report having leaders of their own race or ethnicity at work.

	Black workers	White workers	Hispanic workers
	%	%	%
5 "Strongly agree"	37	55	40
4	22	24	25
3	19	13	18
2	11	4	10
1 "Strongly disagree"	11	4	8
GALLUP PANEL, NOV. 6-DEC. 1, 2020

Representation Shapes Black Employees' Work Experience

Many employers in the U.S. seek to respond to the national conversation on race, but managers on the front lines are unprepared for such conversations. Less than half of U.S. managers strongly agree that they are prepared to have meaningful conversations about race and equality with their teams.

	Strongly agree
	%
Among all U.S. managers	42
Among managers who strongly agree their organization is committed to improving racial equality	73
Among managers who do not strongly agree their organization is committed to improving racial equality	21
Gallup Panel, Nov. 6-Dec. 1, 2020

Most U.S. Managers Not Fully Prepared to Talk About Race

Gallup Findings Throughout Black History

During the past year, we dug through our archives and revisited key moments in Black history.

• On Nov. 13, 1956, the Supreme Court struck down an Alabama law requiring segregated seating on city buses, trains and public waiting rooms. Several months later, Gallup found 60% of Americans supporting that ruling -- including 27% support in Southern states and 70% support outside the South.

	U.S. adults	South	Non-South
	%	%	%
Approve	60	27	70
Disapprove	33	64	22
No opinion	7	9	8
Gallup, July 18-23, 1957

Gallup Vault: 60 Years Ago, the End of "Separate but Equal"

• The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was the final death knell to segregation in public places in the U.S. About six in 10 Americans approved of the legislation, though most (62%) supported a gradual approach rather than a strict enforcement from the beginning.

	U.S. adults
	%
Approve	59
Disapprove	31
Don't know	10
Gallup for the Institute for International Social Research, September 1964

Gallup Vault: Americans Narrowly OK'd 1964 Civil Rights Law

• The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed by President Lyndon Johnson to address the barriers to voting that were in place for many Black Americans. A Gallup poll taken months before its passage found that the legislation was favored by more than three in four Americans (76%) -- though by less than half of White Southerners (49%).

	U.S. adults%	White Southerners%
Favor	76	49
Oppose	16	37
No opinion	8	14
Gallup, March 18-23, 1965

Gallup Vault: Americans Side With Voting Rights Reforms

Before the federal government made Juneteenth an official holiday this year, more than a fourth of Americans said they didn't know anything at all about Juneteenth.

	A lot	Some	A little bit	Nothing at all
	%	%	%	%
U.S. adults	12	25	34	28
Black adults	37	32	27	4
GALLUP PANEL, MAY 18-23, 2021

Most Americans Know About the Juneteenth Holiday

Just before its passage, Black Americans were the most supportive group of making Juneteenth a federal holiday.

	Yes	No	Don't know/Unfamiliar with Juneteenth
	%	%	%
National adults	35	25	40
Black adults	69	14	18
GALLUP PANEL, MAY 18-23, 2021

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