Sunday, January 17, 2010
Do you think that race relations have improved in the U.S.since Obama was inaugurated?
Statistically, all signs point to the improvement of race relations since the inauguration of Barack Obama. After the first 100 days of Obama's presidency, the CBS News/New York Times made a poll. It read that 59% of African Americans say that race relations are good compared to just 29% a year ago. This is an astonishing change. There is normally a large gap (about 30% between African Americans and Whites on this subject, with far more whites saying that race relations are good. 65% of whites also say that race relations are good. http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4972932n&tag=related;photovideo. CBN News reports that "Sixty-one percent of blacks say there has been real progress in getting rid of racial discrimination since the 1960s. That's up from 37 percent in December 1996. Eighty-seven percent of whites say there has been real progress since the 1960s." Though it seems that race relations have been going in the right direction, many African Americans believe that racial discrimination still exist. Polls asked "Asked who has a better chance to get ahead in U.S. society, fifty-one percent of blacks said white people do. Forty-four percent said both races had equal opportunity, while just one percent said blacks had an advantage.White people, by contrast, were far more likely to see a level playing field, with 62 percent saying both races had equal opportunity. Roughly one in four white said white people have a better chance to get ahead, while seven percent of whites said black people have the better opportunities." This may be contributed to the failing economy. Most African Americans, or any race for that matter hasn't been presented with many opportunities for advancement, especially financially because of the suffering economy. Once the economy is in shape, more opportunities will arise and people of all races will benefit, especially African Americans. Though 51 percent of African Americans believe that white people have a better chance of getting ahead, this data offers encouraging trends. CBN News reports that "The percentage of blacks who say that both races have equal opportunities has risen by twelve points since last July."
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''Recent research shows that while the vast majority of blacks still favors Obama(over 90%), only a relatively small number of whites(around 40%) approves of his performance so far.These results only prove how biased the American society is.In other words,the racial factor still plays a major role in every day life.''
ReplyDeleteThere is an old adverb that says there are 3 kinds of lies: a lie, a shameless lie, and statistics. As shown above, statistics are easily manipulated to serve both sides of the story. It seems to me that this article is based solely on polls and statistics,ultimately making it an unreliable source.
The stats from CBS News/ Network time poll and the stats from Dr. Bo’s comment can in fact be showing the outcome of the election so far. It is true sometimes polls and stats may be stratified and may not show an accurate reading of the situation. However we can use our logic to assess the situation. Race relations have been a huge factor in the United States since the colonial era. The people who have been affected the most have been the African American community, Native Americans and may more.
ReplyDeleteOn the other contrary having a black president in office shows that relations are getting better and people are being to see and accept others for what they have to offer rather than their race but the fact having Obama as a president for some 100 days or one year in office will not and cannot change race relations that fast. My opinion on the issue stands as race relation has not change since Obama’s inauguration.
As positive as those polls may seem, you can never really base your facts solely on them. Statistically, polls are one of the worst ways to gather information, because only those who truly care about sharing their own opinion will actually take part in the polling. It's just just like anyone who goes to vote; those who vote are those who choose to make the effort. That being said, I believe that while there have been many changes when it comes to race, things are definitely not in the best condition it could be, even with a black president.
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