A JUST-RELEASED POLL BY THE GALLUP ORGANIZATION SHOWS
WIDELY DIFFERENT PERCEPTIONS ON HOW BLACK AND WHITE
AMERICANS ARE FARING IN THE UNITED STATES.
THE GALLUP POLL SEEMS TO SHOW TWO DIFFERENT AMERICAS,
ONE BLACK, AND ONE WHITE, WITH QUITE DIFFERENT
PERCEPTIONS. FOR EXAMPLE, ONE QUESTION WAS, "HOW ARE
BLACKS TREATED IN YOUR COMMUNITY?" SEVENTY-SIX PERCENT
OF WHITES REPLIED THAT BLACKS ARE TREATED THE SAME AS
WHITES; BUT ONLY 49 PERCENT OF BLACKS AGREED. ANOTHER
QUESTION WAS, "DO BLACKS HAVE THE SAME CHANCES AT JOBS
AS WHITES?" YES, SAID 80 PERCENT OF WHITES - BUT ONLY
46 PERCENT OF BLACKS.
BUT AT THE SAME TIME, SAID GALLUP EDITOR-IN-CHIEF FRANK
NEWPORT, WHEN THE LATEST POLL IS COMPARED WITH EARLIER
ONES, IT SHOWS THAT MOST BLACKS SAY THEIR OWN LIVES HAVE
IMPROVED OVER THE YEARS. AND MOST SAY THEY ARE NARROWING
THE GAP WITH WHITES WHEN IT COMES TO HOUSEHOLD INCOME
AND STANDARD OF LIVING:
"HERE, FOR EXAMPLE, IS 'HOW SATISFIED ARE YOU WITH YOUR
HOUSING?' NOW THIS IS A SIGNIFICANT CHANGE OVER TIME.
AT ONE POINT WHEN WE WERE ASKING THIS QUESTION, YOU CAN
SEE THAT THERE WERE MUCH LARGER GAPS BETWEEN
SATISFACTION LEVELS. NOW IN OUR MOST RECENT ASKINGS,
ALTHOUGH IT IS SPREAD OUT A LITTLE NOW, THAT GAP HAS
CLOSED SIGNIFICANTLY. SO DESPITE THEIR SPECULATIONS ON
WHAT'S HAPPENING NATIONALLY AND IN OTHER SITUATIONS,
BLACK AMERICANS TODAY ARE MORE SATISFIED WITH THEIR
HOUSING THAN THEY WERE DECADES AGO."
THE LATEST GALLUP POLL ALSO SHOWS CONSIDERABLE CHANGES
IN WHITE ATTITUDES TOWARD RACIAL INTEGREGATION FROM
POLLS TAKEN YEARS EARLIER. THIS TIME, MOST WHITES
FAVORED INTEGRATED NEIGHBORHOODS AND WORKPLACES, AND 61
PERCENT OF WHITES SAID THEY APPROVE OF INTERRACIAL
MARRAGES - COMPARED WITH ONLY 4 PERCENT WHO APPROVED OF
SUCH MARRIAGES IN THE EARLY 1960S. AND 93 PERCENT OF
WHITES NOW SAY THEY WOULD VOTE FOR A BLACK CANDIDATE FOR
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES - COMPARED WITH JUST
ONE-THIRD IN 1958.
HOWEVER MOST PEOPLE WERE PESSIMISTIC ABOUT THE FUTURE:
WHEN ASKED, 'WILL RACE RELATIONS ALWAYS BE A PROBLEM?'
54 PERCENT OF WHITES, AND 58 PERCENT OF BLACKS, REPLIED
YES. MR. NEWPORT SAID POLLS SINCE 1963 HAVE SHOWN A
GROWING PESSIMISM.
THE GALLUP OFFICIAL SAID HE CAN'T EXPLAIN THE APPARENT
CONTRADICTIONS. BUT HE SAID THAT OTHER POLLS HAVE SHOWN
PEOPLE TO BE MUCH HAPPIER WITH THEIR OWN PERSONAL
SITUATIONS THAN THEY ARE WITH NATIONAL CONDITIONS AS A
WHOLE.
"WHEN AMERICANS SPECULATE ON THINGS THAT ARE CLOSER TO
THEM, THEY GENERALLY CAN BE MORE POSITIVE THEN WHEN THEY
SPECULATE ON THINGS NATIONALLY. THE BEST EXAMPLE IS
CONGRESS: 'CONGRESS IS TERRIBLE BUT I LOVE MY
CONGRESSMAN.' DOCTORS: 'THE HEALTH CARE SYSTEM IS IN A
CRISIS BUT I HAVE GOOD HEALTH CARE.' TEACHERS:
'AMERICA'S EDUCATION SYSTEM IS HORRIBLE BUT MY KIDS GO
TO GOOD SCHOOLS.' THERE MAY BE A LITTLE OF THAT
PHENOMENON HERE, WHERE AMERICANS WHEN THEY LOOK AT THEIR
OWN COMMUNITIES, WHITE AMERICANS SAY, 'I DON'T SEE
PROBLEMS.' BUT WHEN ASKED TO SPECULATE ON THE FUTURE
AND THE BIG PICTURE, THEY MAY BE PICKING UP MORE WHAT
THEY HEAR IN THE MEDIA AND SAY, 'YES, I THINK IT IS
ALWAYS GOING TO BE A PROBLEM.'"
THE POLL WAS BASED ON TELEPHONE INTERVIEWS WITH THREE
THOUSAND RANDOMLY SELECTED AND ANONYMOUS ADULTS,
INCLUDING 1200 BLACKS AND NEARLY 1700 WHITES - AND ABOUT
100 WHO DECLINED TO IDENTIFY THEMSELVES AS OF EITHER
RACE. (OPT. MR. NEWPORT SAID HE BELIEVES THE ANSWERS
ARE HONEST, AND NOT, FOR EXAMPLE, WHAT WHITES THOUGHT
WERE THE 'POLITICALLY CORRECT' ANSWERS TO GIVE. AND HE
SAID THAT OVER THE YEARS, POLLS HAVE SHOWN THAT WHAT
PEOPLE SAY IS WHAT GUIDES THEIR ACTIONS.
THIS POLL, MR. NEWPORT SAID, WAS SPONSORED NOT BY A
PRIVATE ORGANIZATION BUT BY GALLUP ITSELF AS A PUBLIC
SERVICE, ESPECIALLY TO HELP POLICYMAKERS IN THEIR
"ONGOING DIALOGUE" ON THE GOVERNMENT'S ROLE IN SOLVING
SOCIETY'S PROBLEMS.
"AS THE GOVERNMENT POLICYMAKERS, (AND) LEADERS OF BOTH
BLACK AND WHITE COMMUNITIES, ARE NOW IN A POSITION WHERE
THEY ARE TRYING TO ADVOCATE POLICIES OR LAWS OR
LEGISLATION TO DEAL WITH RACE RELATIONS, YOU ARE UP
AGAINST A SITUATION WHERE THERE REMAIN, TO SOME
SIGNIFICANT DEGREE, TWO DIFFERENT PERCEPTUAL SITUATIONS
IN THIS WORLD BETWEEN WHITES AND BLACKS: WHITES ARE MUCH
MORE POSITIVE, AND THEREFORE DO NOT THINK THAT THE
GOVERNMENT HAS TO BE INVOLVED; BLACKS ARE MORE
NEGATIVE."
FOR EXAMPLE, 59 PERCENT OF BLACKS - BUT ONLY 34 PERCENT
OF WHITES - SAID THE U-S GOVERNMENT SHOULD MAKE EVERY
EFFORT TO IMPROVE THE CONDITIONS OF BLACKS AND OTHER
MINORITIES. AND 53 PERCENT OF BLACKS - BUT ONLY 22
PERCENT OF WHITES - SAID AFFIRMATIVE ACTION MEASURES
SHOULD BE INCREASED.
OTHER QUESTIONS DEALT WITH EQUAL TREATMENT IN STORES AND
RESTAURANTS AND THE WORKPLACE. WHITES SAID BLACKS
RECEIVE EQUAL TREATMENT, BUT ABOUT 45 PERCENT OF BLACKS,
LED BY YOUNG BLACK MEN, SAID THEY FELT THEY HAD BEEN
UNFAIRLY TREATED IN THE LAST 30 DAYS, MOST OF THEM IN
SHOPS, FOLLOWED BY RESTAURANTS AND AT WORK, THEN BY THE
POLICE.
MR. NEWPORT SAID THAT ONE FACTUAL QUESTION PROMPTED
MOSTLY WRONG ANSWERS. ASKED WHAT PERCENTAGE OF
AMERICANS ARE BLACK, A MAJORITY OF WHITES SAID AT LEAST
25 PERCENT, WHILE BLACKS SAID 50 PERCENT. ACTUALLY,
BLACK AMERICANS COMPRISE ABOUT 12 PERCENT OF THE U-S
POPULATION.
10-Jun-97
Source: Voice of America