Public Opinion - Discrimination

In a Gallup poll taken in May 2003, 68 percent of Americans believed that African-Americans in their own communities are treated as well as whites. This figure, however, masked a distinct divide, with only 39 percent of blacks reporting that African-Americans are treated as well as whites, as opposed to 73 percent of whites who felt this way.

When asked about treatment in particular situations, the divide was most evident in answers about the way African-Americans are treated by the police. Sixty-nine percent of African-Americans felt that blacks are treated unfairly, while only 35 percent of whites held that opinion. African-Americans consistently report the pernicious practice of racial profiling—that is, unfair scrutiny (if not outright harrassment) of minority groups by law enforcement officers. Eighty-five percent of African-Americans FIGURE 10.1
Public opinion on overall satisfaction with life, by race/ethnicity, June 2003 FIGURE 10.3
Public opinion on equal educational opportunity in local communities, 1962–2001
Question: Do black children have the same chance as white children to get a good education in their own community? FIGURE 10.2
Public opinion on quality of life for Hispanics, July 2003
LOOKING BACK OVER THE LAST 10 YEARS, DO YOU THINK THE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR HISPANICS HAS GOTTEN BETTER, STAYED ABOUT THE SAME, OR GOTTEN WORSE? believed that racial profiling is widespread, while only 54 percent of whites held that opinion. According to Gallup, Hispanics feel significantly less discrimination than African-Americans. While 26 percent of African-Americans said they are discriminated against on a daily or weekly basis, only 10 percent of Hispanics said the same.

Education for African-Americans

African-Americans are less likely than whites to say that their children have the same opportunity as white children to get a good education. According to Gallup, between 1962 and 2003 the number of African-Americans reporting that their children had a "good chance" of receiving a comparable education ranged from 53 percent (in 1962) to a high of 68 percent in 1990. (See Figure 10.3.) In 1995 this figure began a steady decline, and in a Gallup survey conducted in May 2003 it stood at 50 percent, the lowest point recorded in the last four decades.

Housing for African-Americans

African-Americans also report being less satisfied with the quality of their housing than their white counterparts. In a Gallup survey of June 2004, only 44 percent of African-Americans reported being "very satisfied" with their housing, as opposed to 69 percent of whites. The number of African-Americans who have reported that blacks have the same opportunity as whites to secure affordable housing rose from 51 percent in 1989 (the first year the question was asked) to 58 percent in 1997. (See Figure 10.4) Since that time, the figure has declined steadily, to a low of 48 percent in 2003.