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African Americans see a widening gulf between the values of middle
class and poor blacks, and nearly four-in-ten say that because of the
diversity within their community, blacks can no longer be thought of as
a single race.
The new nationwide Pew Research Center survey also finds blacks less
upbeat about the state of black progress now than at any time since
1983. Looking backward, just one-in-five blacks say things are better
for blacks now than they were five years ago. Looking ahead, fewer than
half of all blacks (44%) say they think life for blacks will get better
in the future, down from the 57% who said so in a 1986 survey.
Whites have a different perspective. While they, too, have grown
less sanguine about black progress, they are nearly twice as likely as
blacks to see black gains in the past five years. Also, a majority of
whites (56%) say life for blacks in this country will get better in the
future.
Telephone interviews for this survey were conducted among a
nationally representative sample of 3,086 adults from September
5-October 6, 2007. African Americans and Hispanics were over-sampled -
a total of 1007 interviews were completed with blacks, and 388 with
Hispanics.
Other key findings include:
- Asked whether blacks can still be thought of as a single race,
given the increasing diversity within the black community, 53% of
blacks say they can, but 37% of blacks say they cannot.
- Big gaps in perception between blacks and whites emerge on many
topics. For example, blacks believe that anti-black discrimination is
still pervasive in everyday life; whites disagree. And blacks have far
less confidence than whites in the basic fairness of the criminal
justice system.
- But there are also areas of agreement. For example, blacks and
whites concur that there has been a convergence in the values held by
blacks and whites. On the popular culture front, large majorities of
both blacks and whites say that rap and hip hop have a bad influence on
society.
- Blacks and whites express very little overt racial animosity. As
they have for decades, about eight-in-ten members of each racial group
express a favorable view about members of the other group. More than
eight-in-ten adults in each group also say they know a person of a
different race whom they consider a friend.
- The most newsworthy African American figure in politics today -
Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama - draws broadly (though
not intensely felt) favorable ratings from both blacks and whites. But
blacks are more inclined to say that his race will detract from his
chances to be elected president; whites are more inclined to say his
relative inexperience will hurt his chances.
- Three-quarters of blacks (76%) say that Obama is a good influence
on the black community. Even greater numbers say this about Oprah
Winfrey (87%) and Bill Cosby (85%), who are the most highly regarded by
blacks from among 14 black newsmakers tested in this survey. By
contrast, just 17% of blacks say that rap artist 50 Cent is a good
influence.
- Over the past two decades, blacks have lost some confidence in the
effectiveness of leaders within their community, including national
black political figures, the clergy, and the NAACP. A sizable majority
of blacks still see all of these groups as either very or somewhat
effective, but the number saying "very" effective has declined since
1986.
- A 53% majority of African Americans say that blacks who don't get
ahead are mainly responsible for their situation, while just
three-in-ten say discrimination is mainly to blame. As recently as the
mid-1990s, black opinion on this question tilted in the opposite
direction, with a majority of African Americans saying then that
discrimination is the main reason for a lack of black progress.
- On the issue of immigration, blacks and whites agree that most
immigrants work harder than most blacks and most whites at low-wage
jobs. Also, blacks are less inclined now than they were two decades ago
to say that blacks would have more jobs if there were fewer immigrants.
Download the complete report from PewSocialTrends.org
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