Rating of Black-White Relations at New Low
Is pessimism warranted?
Recently, USA Today’s Mike Freeman interviewed tennis superstar Serena Williams. At the end, Freeman asked Williams if she felt optimistic about the future of race relations in America. Freeman asked because the current Gallup poll revealed positive ratings of relations between black and whites in the United States were at their lowest point in the 21st century.
Williams replied, “Is that a trick question?”
Freedman responded, “No, I’m not trying to trick you.”
Williams said, “I’m answering your question.”
Freeman didn’t intend to be tricky, but that’s the nature of black-white relations in America.
In 1990, The Christian Science Monitor ran a story by Burns W. Roper called, Race Relations in America: Despite some well-publicized hate crimes and episodes of tension, racial harmony is growing. Roper stated the greatest contribution of public opinion polls is that it allows us to assess the validity of “common knowledge”, and with respect to race relations in America, the polls revealed how wrong “common knowledge” is. From what is said in the news media today, we would think the state of race relations in America had deteriorated to a post-war low. But that is far from the truth.