America
After Baltimore Americans say race relations bad
After
Baltimore Americans say race relations bad
Washington, May 5 As Baltimore returns to an uneasy peace after
riots over the police custody death of a black man, over six in ten Americans
say race relations in the US are bad, the highest percentage since 1992,
according to a new poll.
Just a third of Americans now say race relations are good, while majorities of
both whites and blacks now view race relations negatively, according to a new
CBS News/New York Times poll released Monday
The poll by telephone April 30-May 3 among a random sample of 1,027 adults
nationwide found that 79 percent of African Americans think police are more
likely to use deadly force against a black person than a white person.
But 53 percent of whites say race does not play a role in such instances,
according to the survey which also found that blacks are more likely than
whites to report that their local police make them feel anxious rather than
safe.
In the wake of the April 19 death of Freddie Gray, 25, in Baltimore and the
unrest that followed, Americans' views on race relations in the US have grown
significantly more pessimistic, the poll found.
Sixty-one percent now say race relations are generally bad, up 23 points from
earlier this year. It is the first time a majority has held this view since the
1990s.
These opinions are the most negative this poll has found since 1992, when riots
broke out in Los Angeles following the acquittal of police officers in the
beating of Rodney King, CBS News said.
For the first time since 1997, majorities of both whites and blacks think race
relations in the US are bad.
Opinions among white Americans have grown sharply more negative in this poll,
and are the reverse of what they were earlier this year.
Sixty-two percent of whites now say race relations are bad, compared to just 35
percent in February.
Historically, blacks have had a more negative view of race relations than
whites-but whites are now similarly pessimistic. Majorities of men, women and
Americans of all age groups now say race relations are bad.
In addition, fewer than 1 in 5 Americans thinks race relations are improving in
the US. Most either think they are getting worse (44 percent) or staying about
the same (37 percent).
Even though majorities across all age groups say their local police make them
feel safe, younger Americans are more likely than those who are older to say
the police in their community make them feel anxious.
Whites and blacks also hold different views on the role race plays in the use
of deadly force by the police.