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Poll: Nearly 6 in 10 say race relations in US are bad

by Jesse Byrnes - 07/23/15 7:51 PM ET

Most Americans say race relations in the United States are bad, and those who view them as improving are outnumbered nearly 2-1 by those who think they’re getting worse, according to a new CBS/New York Times poll.

About six in 10 Americans, 57 percent, say race relations in the United States are poor, slightly down from April but at least 13 points higher than the previous several months in the poll.

{mosads}Forty percent of both whites and blacks say race relations are getting worse in the United States, about double the percent of those who say they are improving, according to the poll.

Another 39 percent of Americans — including 38 percent of whites and 40 percent of blacks — say race relations are staying the same.

The poll indicates deep skepticism on improvement, with the percentage of black Americans saying race relations are generally bad higher than any time during President Obama’s six years in office.

Sixty-eight percent of blacks say race relations are going badly, compared to 56 percent of whites.

Meanwhile, 37 percent of Americans consider race relations to be going well, far below the percentage that said that in recent years.

The poll found 15 percent say Obama has united white and black Americans, while 47 percent say the nation’s first black president has pushed them futher apart.

Another 47 percent say Obama’s presidency has made no difference.

The survey of 1,205 U.S. adults was conducted July 14-19 via landlines and cellphones with an overall margin of error of 3 points, 4 points for whites and 8 points for blacks.

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