Views on Race Not Much Changed by Obama's Presidency

There was much discussion during the 2008 campaign and afterward about what the election of the first black president would mean to race relations. One answer, provided by a Gallup poll conducted Oct. 16-19, is that optimism that problems between blacks and whites will eventually be worked out stands at 56 percent, a figure that is roughly the same as it's been for most of the time since 1964, when the pollster began tracking the question.

Forty percent say that race will always be a problem.

In a poll Gallup conducted one day after Obama's election, the optimism number spiked, with 67 percent declaring themselves optimistic and 30 percent saying the race problem would persist. That, however, has obviously come back down.

The low point for optimism on race relations came in October 1995, after the acquittal of O.J. Simpson on murder charges, when 68 percent said race would always be a problem and only 29 percent felt more optimistic.

Behind the overall numbers, there are significant differences in the outlook among blacks and whites.

The number of blacks who believe that there will be an eventual solution to racial problems has fallen since last summer from 50 percent to 42 percent, while the number of whites who are optimistic stands at 59 percent (down one point from summer).

Seventy-nine percent believe that blacks have as good a chance as whites to get a job for which they are qualified, while 19 percent disagree, the most positive ratio since 1964 in the Gallup tracking.

Eighty-two percent of whites hold that view while only 49 percent of blacks do.

Fifty-one percent of all adults believe racism against blacks is widespread in the country compared to 56 percent last year. Seventy-two percent of blacks believe that, down from 78 percent last year. Forty-nine percent of non-Hispanic whites believe there is widespread racism.

Forty-four percent say there is widespread racism against whites, with 39 percent of blacks and 46 percent of non-Hispanic whites holding that view.