U.S. Blacks Less Satisfied With Way Blacks Are Treated

PRINCETON, NJ -- Blacks are somewhat less satisfied now (41%) than they were earlier this summer (47%) with the way blacks are treated in the U.S. By contrast, their views of how other groups are treated are no worse today than they were in June and early July.

The Aug. 9-22 poll of 1,001 blacks was conducted as a follow-up of an earlier poll, to see whether blacks' views of race relations were affected by the "not guilty" verdict for George Zimmerman. On July 13, a Florida jury found Zimmerman, a white Hispanic neighborhood watch captain, not guilty in the shooting death of black teen Trayvon Martin.

Shortly after the verdict was announced, a July 16-21 Gallup poll found 85% of blacks, compared with 30% of whites, describing the verdict as "wrong."

The verdict was announced about a week after the completion of Gallup's June 13-July 5 Minority Rights and Relations poll, which had shown that Americans, including blacks, were a bit more positive about race relations than they had been in recent years.

Given that blacks' satisfaction with the way blacks are treated is down since June and early July, while their views of the way other minority groups are treated are unchanged or even up slightly, the verdict appears to have had at least a slight impact on how blacks perceive they are treated in the U.S.

Even with the decline, though, blacks' satisfaction with the way blacks are treated is higher than in 2006-2008, the latter years of George W. Bush's presidency. Since 2001, the first year Gallup asked the question, blacks have been consistently more likely to say they are dissatisfied than satisfied with the way blacks are treated.

Mixed Evidence on Effects of Verdict on Blacks' Views of White-Black Relations

The Zimmerman case may also have had a slightly negative impact on blacks' views of black-white relations specifically. Currently, 62% rate these as good, compared with 66% in the earlier poll. At the same time, blacks' views of white-Hispanic, white-Asian, and black-Hispanic relations are unchanged.

However, another measure of race relations, asking whether relations between whites and blacks "will always be a problem for the United States" or if "a solution will eventually be worked out," shows no change since June-July. Fifty percent of blacks say white-black relations will always be a problem, while 48% are optimistic about a solution.

The poll also documents a change since June in blacks' attitudes about the government's role in ensuring black civil rights and helping to improve the situation of blacks.

The opinions on race relations are especially relevant now, as Americans recognize the 50^th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s civil rights march on Washington, D.C. and his "I Have a Dream" speech. The march and speech were major events in the civil rights movement and helped promote the enactment of civil rights laws such as the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

Implications

The Zimmerman verdict, as well as the commemoration of the civil rights march on Washington, has brought the issue of race back into the spotlight. Fifty years after the march, blacks and whites perceive racial issues very differently. The June-July Gallup poll suggested that U.S. attitudes about race were improving, perhaps as a result of the election of the first black president in 2008.

However, when a racially charged incident, such as the Zimmerman verdict, occurs, and blacks and whites perceive the issue differently, it can bring into question how much progress in racial equality there has been in the United States. And it appears that in some respects, blacks' attitudes about their group's treatment have become more negative in recent months.