Minorities and Discrimination

Turnout among Black Americans dropped in 2016 compared with 2008 and 2012, and where it ends up this year could be a significant determinant of the election outcome.

The overall life ratings of Black Americans have eroded since 2016, but negative emotional experiences are unchanged in recent years.

While majorities say Black and White Americans have equal chances to get a job, housing or good education, each reading is at its lowest in over 30 years.

Americans believe racial inequities need to be fixed but are reluctant to support disruptive changes that have been proposed to bring such fixes about.

Americans are less likely now than at any point in Gallup's 25-year trend to say civil rights for Black adults have improved.

Americans' perceptions of relations between White and Black Americans are the lowest Gallup has recorded, with less than half now calling them good.

Gallup is committed to research that represents different backgrounds. Find out what we're doing to ensure all Black Americans' voices are heard.

In the U.S., Black adults are less likely than all other racial groups to say they feel safe walking alone at night where they live.

Record-high percentages of U.S. adults say Black people are treated less fairly than White people when shopping, working and interacting with police.

Thirty-five percent of Americans are satisfied with the treatment of Black people in the U.S., marking a nine-point decline since the previous reading in 2018 and the lowest point in Gallup's trend dating back to 2001.

While 56% of White adults in the U.S. say they are confident in the police, far fewer Black adults (19%) say the same. The police elicit the largest racial gap in confidence among 16 institutions tested.

The Gallup Center on Black Voices will release its Minority Rights and Relations series, highlighting findings on the state of race relations in the U.S.

Americans support the concept of affirmative action and its objectives, but attitudes are nuanced when it comes to specifics.

Polling data at the time found a majority of Americans backing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but with differences by race and region.