Public Opinion - Satisfaction Of Minority Groups

Satisfaction with the National Government

According to a 2004 Gallup poll, a majority of African-Americans and Hispanics were dissatisfied with the direction of the United States. Not only were most dissatisfied, but the percentage of African-Americans and Hispanics who were satisfied dropped substantially from 2001. In 2004 only 35% of Hispanics were satisfied with the direction of the country, down from 53% in 2001. In 2004 only about 15% of African-Americans were satisfied with the direction of the country, down from 37% in 2001. Compared with African-Americans and Hispanics, whites were much more divided: 51% were satisfied with the direction of the country in 2004. (See Figure 9.1.) Factors that influenced the dissatisfaction of minorities were the country's economic outlook, race relations, and politics.

Satisfaction with Position of Minority Groups in Society

According to Darren K. Carlson, in "As Blacks Mark History, Satisfaction Gap Persists" (February 17, 2004, http://poll.gallup.com/content/default.aspx?ci=10627), overall public satisfaction with the position of minority groups in the nation was moderately positive—most Americans said they were either very satisfied (12%) or somewhat satisfied (45%) with that position, a measure that remained generally static since 2001. However, that satisfaction varied significantly by race. While 61% of white Americans were satisfied with the position of blacks and other racial minorities in the United States in 2004, just 44% of nonwhites were satisfied and 50% were dissatisfied. (See Figure 9.2.)

Quality of Life

In "Race Relations," (June 2005, http://poll.gallup.-com/content/default.aspx?ci=1687), the Gallup polls found that 50% of all Americans stated that they were very satisfied with their lives. However, African-Americans and Hispanics were less likely to be very satisfied with their lives than were non-Hispanic whites. More than half (51%) of non-Hispanic whites were very satisfied with their lives, 48% of Hispanics were very satisfied with their lives, and only 44% of African-Americans were very satisfied with their lives. A similar proportion of each group (4%) was very dissatisfied with their lives.

Hispanics polled by Gallup in July 2003 were more positive than African-Americans about continued improvement in their quality of life, with 70% saying that Hispanics' quality of life had improved in the past ten years. Another 24% of Hispanics thought that their lives were about the same, and only 5% thought their situation had become worse. (See Figure 9.3.) Hispanics' optimism was likely due to the large number of immigrants in the group who had established a higher quality of life in the United States than was possible in their native countries. The strong economy of the 1990s helped many Hispanics improve their economic position.