A new poll found the majority of voters see major obstacles and discrimination factors for minorities in U.S. society.
Since the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody, a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll found 71% of respondents believe race relations are either very or fairly bad, 60% say they believe black people face discrimination, and over half said the same of Hispanics.
Ninety percent of Democrats said black people are discriminated against, whereas only 26% of Republicans said the same. Four-in-5 Democrats and 30% of Republicans said they believe U.S. society is racist.
As for the protests against police brutality and racial inequality sparked by Floyd’s death, 57% of respondents said they supported the demonstrations, and 58% said they became more concerned with racial inequality because of the protests.
The national reckoning on race also appears to have influenced how people feel about athletes kneeling during the national anthem. A little more than half of voters said it an appropriate form of protest, compared to the 43% who agreed with them in 2018. As for Confederate statues, a slight majority of 51% believe they should be taken down.
The poll surveyed 900 registered voters between July 9-12. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.27 percentage points.
