More Say Nation Needs to Make Changes to Achieve Racial Equality (Pew Research Center poll)
AUGUST 5, 2015
... Today, 50 years after the passage of the Voting Rights Act, roughly six-in-ten Americans (59%) say the country needs to continue making changes to achieve racial equality, while 32% say the country has made the changes needed to give blacks equal rights with whites ... Though a substantial racial divide in these views remains, a majority of whites (53%) now say more needs to be done. Last year, just 39% of whites said this ... Currently, 50% say that racism is a big problem in our society today. Five years ago, just 33% of Americans identified racism as a big problem, and in January 2009, only about a quarter (26%) said this ... When asked an open-ended question about their feelings on South Carolina’s decision, about a third (36%) of those who view removing the flag as the right decision cite the flag’s association with racism, hatred or slavery, while 20% say the flag is offensive or divisive. Among those who say the decision to remove the flag was wrong, most (54%) mention the flag’s historical significance, while 27% volunteer that it is a misunderstood symbol (including 20% who say that it is wrongly cast as a symbol of hatred, racism or slavery) ...
http://www.people-press.org/2015/08/05/across-racial-lines-more-say-nation-needs-to-make-changes-to-achieve-racial-equality/
