Race relations haven’t been this bad since the O.J. Simpson trial ended in acquittal in October 1995, a new poll reveals.
According to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, only 34 percent of Americans view race relations in the country as fairly good or very good. Just 33 percent of whites and 38 percent of Hispanics view race relations as fairly or very good, and only 26 percent of African-Americans agree.
The highest point for race relations was January 2009, after President Obama was inaugurated as the country’s first black president. At that time, 77 percent of people thought race relations were positive.
However, confidence in law enforcement is up, despite backlash against police brutality following numerous incidents involving the deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of officers.
One third of African-Americans have little or no confidence in law enforcement agencies, compared to 14 percent of all Americans who say the same. About half of Americans, 51 percent, said they have a great deal or quite a bit of confidence in law enforcement.
Just 39 percent expressed confidence in police in December 2014.
There is a partisan divide when it comes to confidence in police, too. Among Republicans, trust in law enforcement moved to 69 percent this year from 56 percent last year. Democrats remain more apprehensive when it comes to law enforcement agencies, as just 47 percent say they have a great deal of trust in police, compared to 20 percent who express little confidence.
The poll of 1,000 U.S. adults was conducted Dec. 6-9 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
