Black Dissatisfaction Simmers Beneath Good Race Relations

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., delivered his landmark "I Have a Dream" speech in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 28, 1963, calling for a new era of racial equality and racial harmony, and demanding an end to the segregation and police brutality then inflaming the South. Less than a year later, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which enforced blacks' legal right to vote and ended segregation in public places.

Forty years after King's speech -- an anniversary commemorated this weekend in Washington, D.C., -- most blacks say civil rights for blacks have improved over the course of their lifetimes. Also, blacks tend to be upbeat about black-white relations, saying that relations between the two groups are generally good, and perceiving that racial animosity is confined to only a few Americans. These are the more encouraging findings from Gallup's annual Minority Rights and Relations survey, conducted June 12-18.

On the downside, blacks are generally dissatisfied with society's treatment of their racial group. Many blacks report being discriminated against on a routine basis, and a majority of blacks say it happens to them at least a few times a year. Four in five blacks believe that racial minorities do not have the same job opportunities as whites do.

There is no available polling to document the extent to which King was perceived as the leader of the black community in his era, but history leaves little doubt that he was the leading black figure of his time. Today, no one person stands out as the most important national leader in the black community. Secretary of State Colin Powell and Jesse Jackson lead the list of people that blacks mention as filling this role, but neither man is named by more than one in five blacks. Another third of blacks mention a smattering of black public officials and celebrities, while the remaining third believe there is no black leader or cannot name one.

Who do you feel is the most important national leader in the black community today? [OPEN-ENDED]

Blacks Perceive Progress, Albeit Limited, on Civil Rights

A majority of blacks (71%) believe that civil rights for blacks have improved over the course of their lifetimes, but only a quarter of blacks feel they have "greatly" improved. Another 46% of blacks say they have "somewhat improved." One in seven blacks believe conditions have worsened.

Perhaps contrary to expectations, older blacks are not much more likely than younger blacks to perceive civil rights gains. About three-quarters of blacks aged 40 and older (76%) say that civil rights have either somewhat or greatly improved in their lifetimes, compared with 65% of younger blacks who say the same.

Thinking back over your lifetime, how do you feel civil rights for blacks have changed in this country -- would you say the situation has greatly improved, somewhat improved, stayed pretty much the same, somewhat worsened, or greatly worsened?

U.S. Society Is Far From Great for Blacks

For the past three years, Gallup has tracked the way Americans feel about society's treatment of various groups, including the treatment of women, Hispanics, Asians, blacks, and immigrants. Only 40% of black Americans are satisfied with the way blacks are treated in society. Nearly three in five (59%) are dissatisfied. These attitudes have been quite stable since June 2001.

Reaction to the Way Blacks Are Treated in Society Based on black respondents

June 12-18, 2003

This dissatisfaction may, to some extent, be based on personal experience. Gallup finds most blacks reporting that they personally have experienced racial discrimination in public life or employment. About a quarter of blacks experience this at least weekly (26%), and a total of 64% experience it at least a few times a year. Another 15% of blacks experience it less than once a year, while 19% say they never do.

Black men are more likely than black women to report being discriminated against every day (23% vs. 14%), but aside from this difference, black men and women appear to have similar perceptions on this question.

Next we have a question about your own experiences as [a black/a Hispanic]. How often do you feel discriminated against in public life or employment because you are [black/Hispanic] -- [ROTATED: every day, every week, about once a month, a few times a year, less than once a year, (or) never]?

Black Americans perceive job opportunities for racial minorities quite negatively. Only 17% of blacks believe that racial minorities have the same job opportunities as whites do, while 81% disagree.

Do you feel that racial minorities in this country have equal job opportunities as whites, or not? Based on black respondents

June 12-18, 2003

But whether new laws are needed to correct the situation is somewhat controversial. Only a slim majority of blacks, 52%, believes that new civil rights laws are needed to protect blacks from discrimination; 41% of blacks disagree.

Do you think new civil rights laws are needed to reduce discrimination against blacks, or not? Based on black respondents

June 12-18, 2003

Also, blacks are closely split on whether the achievement gap between white Americans and black Americans is the result of discrimination against blacks. Four in 10 blacks believe that blacks' disadvantages in the areas of jobs, income, and housing can be attributed to racial discrimination, but a slight majority (53%) thinks it is due to something else.

Whites and Blacks Getting Along

While black Americans seem to be saying that there is much room for improvement in the treatment they receive from society, they are relatively upbeat about relations between whites and blacks. Nearly 6 in 10 blacks (59%) rate relations between whites and blacks as either "very good" or "somewhat good." Only 39% of blacks consider relations bad.

Whites give a similar assessment of the situation: 69% say black-white relations are good, while 30% consider them bad.

A majority of whites and blacks also agree that racial animosity is relatively rare between both groups. About half of blacks (51%) and nearly two-thirds of whites (62%) say that only a few white people dislike blacks. A substantial minority of blacks (39%) believe that "many" whites dislike blacks, but only 6% believe the feeling is pervasive among whites.

Do you think only a few white people dislike blacks, many white people dislike blacks, or almost all white people dislike blacks?

The findings are similar when looking at perceptions of how blacks feel about whites. A majority of blacks and whites perceive that only a few blacks dislike whites.

Do you think only a few black people dislike whites, many black people dislike whites, or almost all black people dislike whites?

A Racial Divide in Race Perceptions

As is always seen in polling data on racial matters, the recent survey finds black Americans and white Americans holding different perceptions. Whites and blacks are fairly similar in their views about personal relations and feelings between blacks and whites. For instance, only 10 points separate whites and blacks in their ratings of black-white relations.

Much larger gaps exist in perceptions about the extent of racial discrimination in society and the need for government intervention to fix the problem. For example, whites are nearly twice as likely as blacks (48% vs. 25%) to say that civil rights have greatly improved over their lifetimes. A majority of whites (68%) are satisfied with society's treatment of blacks, compared to only 40% of blacks. Most divergent are perceptions of workplace discrimination; only 17% of blacks, but 55% of whites, believe that racial minorities have the same job opportunities as whites do.

Survey Methods

These results are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,385 adults, aged 18 and older, conducted June 12-18, 2003, including oversamples of blacks and Hispanics that are weighted to reflect their true proportions in the general population. For results based on the total sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is ±3 percentage points. Results for the sample of 241 blacks, aged 18 and older, have a margin of sampling error of ±7 percentage points.

In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

14. Next we'd like to know how you feel about the way various groups in society are treated. For each of the following groups please say whether you are very satisfied, somewhat satisfied, somewhat dissatisfied, or very dissatisfied with the way they are treated. How about… [RANDOM ORDER]?

C. Blacks

SUMMARY TABLE: SATISFACTION (BASED ON "VERY SATISFIED")

19. Next, we'd like to know how you would rate relations between various groups in the United States these days. Would you say relations between -- [RANDOM ORDER] -- are very good, somewhat good, somewhat bad, or very bad?

A. Whites and blacks

SUMMARY TABLE: GROUP RELATIONS (BASED ON "VERY/SOMEWHATGOOD")

24. Do you feel that racial minorities in this country have equal job opportunities as whites, or not?

27. Next we have a question about your own experiences as [a black/a Hispanic]. How often do you feel discriminated against in public life or employment because you are [black/Hispanic] -- [ROTATED: every day, every week, about once a month, a few times a year, less than once a year, (or) never]?

35. Do you think only a few white people dislike blacks, many white people dislike blacks, or almost all white people dislike blacks?

36. Do you think only a few black people dislike whites, many black people dislike whites, or almost all black people dislike whites?

42. Thinking back over your lifetime, how do you feel civil rights for blacks have changed in this country -- would you say the situation has greatly improved, somewhat improved, stayed pretty much the same, somewhat worsened, or greatly worsened?

43. Do you think new civil rights laws are needed to reduce discrimination against blacks, or not?

44. On the average, blacks have worse jobs, income, and housing than white people. Do you think this is mostly due to discrimination against blacks, or is it mostly due to something else?

40. Who do you feel is the most important national leader in the black community today? [OPEN-ENDED]