The acquittal of George Zimmerman still fresh in the public’s memory, a poll released Wednesday found that America’s views of race relations have taken a step back in the wake of the polarizing verdict.
According to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, a slight majority of 52 percent of Americans said race relations in the country are either “very good” or “fairly good,” a huge dip from the stretch between 2009 and 2011. In NBC/WSJ polls conducted during that period, more than 70 percent described race relations in such positive terms.
Wednesday’s poll also found that a majority of blacks — 54 percent — “strongly disagree” that “America is a nation where people are not judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” That marks a huge increase from polls conducted in 2009 and 2010, when only around 30 percent of blacks had such a pessimistic view toward Martin Luther King’s “dream” for the country.
A mere 19 percent of blacks said they “strongly agree” or “somewhat agree” with the statement, according to the latest NBC/WSJ poll. Meanwhile, only 16 percent of whites said they “strongly disagree” with the statement, while a majority of 59 percent said they either “strongly agree” or “somewhat agree.”
A poll earlier this week from Pew Research Center showed a huge racial and partsian divide in the public’s reaction to Zimmerman being found not guilty on all counts in the shooting death of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin.
