Gallup’s long-standing “most important problem” question provides important context for measuring the impact of the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The question asks Americans to name, off the top of their head, the most important problem facing the nation. Gallup has been asking this question since 1939 — every month since 2001 and throughout the decades prior to that on a less regular basis. …
Some 19% of Americans named race relations as the nation’s top problem in our May 28-June 4 survey. This is, by one point, the highest percentage since July 1968 and is the latest example of periodic points in time when mentions of race as the most important problem reach double digits. CONT.
Frank Newport, Gallup
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