An overwhelming racial gap divides public attitudes on the Trayvon Martin case and the fairness of the criminal justice system overall, marking the difficulties in the national conversation on race that Barack Obama sought last week to encourage. By a vast 86-9 percent, African-Americans in a new ABC News/Washington Post […] Read more »
Big Racial Divide over Zimmerman Verdict
The public is divided over the not guilty verdict in the George Zimmerman trial and over the conversation about race that has surrounded it. The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center, conducted July 17-21 among 1,480 adults nationwide finds roughly as many satisfied with the verdict in the […] Read more »
Fewer Blacks See Bias in Jobs, Income, and Housing
Black Americans are significantly less likely now than they were 20 years ago to cite discrimination as the main reason blacks on average have worse jobs, income, and housing than whites. Today, 37% of blacks say these differences are due to discrimination and 60% say they are caused by something […] Read more »
Trayvon Martin and the Burden of Being a Black Male
Could race could have played any role in the confrontation that resulted in Treyvon Martin’s death and in the jury’s interpretation of the evidence that led them to acquit George Zimmerman? … “Race” can work in ways that are exceedingly difficult to detect. White opinion of blacks contains important implicit […] Read more »
Modest Public Interest in Close of Zimmerman Trial
The final days of the trial of George Zimmerman, which concluded July 13 with a verdict of not guilty, attracted relatively modest public interest overall. In a weekend survey, 26% say they were following news about the trial very closely. … However, the story has consistently attracted far more interest […] Read more »
Sexual Assault in the Military Widely Seen as Important Issue, But No Agreement on Solution
A substantial majority of Americans (81%) view sexual assault in the military as an extremely or very important issue. But the public does not believe the problem of sexual assault is a bigger problem in the military than outside it: Just 11% say it is more of a problem inside […] Read more »