Research Shows Black Americans Feel Race Relations Worse Under Obama

African-Americans say relations between blacks and whites in the United States have gotten worse in the Obama era, according to a new a new Pew Research Center/USA Today poll.

From 2007 to 2009, the number of African-Americans respondents that told Pew blacks and whites get along “very well” or “pretty well” went up seven percentage points, to 76 percent. In the new poll, however, 64 percent of black respondents said they have a positive view of race relations, a drop of 12 percentage points since 2009, President Barack Obama’s first year in the White House.

Reuters / Mark Kauzlarich
Reuters / Mark Kauzlarich

Whites also registered a decline in race relations during these time periods. From 2007 to 2009, the number of white respondents who said blacks and whites got along well went up three percentage points. From 2009 to 2014, that number decreased five percentage points.

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