A majority of Americans say racial segregation persists across the U.S., decades after the civil rights movement, a new Hill-HarrisX poll finds.
The survey, which was released on Tuesday, found that 61 percent of voters said that racial segregation is still a problem, compared to 25 percent who said it was no longer an issue. Another 13 percent said they weren’t sure.
When broken down by race, 95 percent of black voters and 77 percent of hispanic voters said racial segregation continues today. A much smaller majority of white voters, 53 percent, said the same.
Younger respondents are also more likely to believe that racial segregation is an ongoing problem. Seventy-seven percent of those ages 18 to 34 saying it is an issue. Among those 65 and older, 60 percent acknowledged that segregation is a problem.
The results are divided along partisan lines, with 80 percent of Democrats and 40 percent of Republicans saying segregation is an issue.
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) put renewed attention on the issue during the first Democratic presidential debate in late June.
Harris confronted former Vice President Joe Biden over his remarks about having found common ground while working with two segregationists lawmakers during his time as a senator in the 1970s.
Though Biden later apologized for the remarks, the fallout was compounded by increased scrutiny over Biden’s opposition to federally mandated busing during the 1970s, which Harris also highlighted during the debate.
“There was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools, and she was bused to school every day,” Harris said to Biden. “That little girl was me.”
While Harris has seen a bump in many national polls since the exchange, Biden has seen a drop in support, particularly among black voters. According to a Morning Consult Survey released on Tuesday, Biden’s support dipped 8 points to 38 percent over the past three weeks.
Biden nevertheless continues to top national polls for the Democratic nomination.
The Hill-HarrisX poll surveyed 1,001 registered voters July 5-6 and has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.
—Tess Bonn
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