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Poll: Fewer People Think Race Relations Have Improved Under Obama
How do you feel about current race relations?
According to new USA Today/Gallup Poll results released today, 35 percent of Americans surveyed believe that race relations under President Obama have improved.
In 2009, 41 percent of Americans believed that race relations had been better than in the past.
Despite the decline in the percentage who view Obama’s election as having improved race relations, Americans as a whole are still optimistic that race relations will get better in the years ahead as a result of Obama’s presidency. Fifty-two percent hold this view, while 35% predict no change and 11% say race relations will get worse.
On balance, Americans, and particularly blacks and Democrats, are more likely to believe the election of the nation’s first black president has resulted in improved race relations rather than poorer relations. However, the current 12-point national edge for optimists on this score is not as upbeat as Gallup found in Obama’s first year as president, and is a long way from the widespread optimism Americans expressed immediately after his election.
