Misperceptions About Economics, Health, Discrimination May Skew Politics, Fuel Conflicts
Host Cecil Prescod speaks with Daniel Byrd, research director at the Greenlining Institute and lead author of their new report which finds a huge gulf in perceptions between black and white Americans on a wide range of issues, a gulf that may be contributing to America’s increasingly divisive politics.
"Post Racial? Americans and Race in the Age of Obama" was written by Greenlining Institute Research Director Daniel Byrd, Ph.D. and Media Relations Coordinator Bruce Mirken.
Among the key findings:
While official statistics show that African Americans lag far behind whites in income and wealth, a majority of whites believe that blacks’ and whites’ incomes are about the same. African Americans and Latinos have more accurate perceptions. Whites and blacks have a similar disconnect regarding African Americans' health status.
Only 16 percent of whites believe there is a lot of racial discrimination in America today, compared to a majority of blacks and over a quarter of Latinos.
56 percent of blacks believe the federal government treats whites better than African Americans, and virtually none believe the government treats blacks better than whites. In contrast, most whites think the government treats blacks and whites about the same, one quarter believe the government treats blacks better than whites, and only nine percent think the government treats whites better.
Whites higher in what is known as “racial resentment” were more likely than other whites to perceive little discrimination and were less likely to believe that blacks make less money or are in worse health.
THE GREENLINING INSTITUTE
A Multi-Ethnic Public Policy, Research and Advocacy Institute
www.greenlining.org