Race is the enduring, heartbreaking problem of American society, and always has been -- after all, the first slaves arrived in North America a year before the Pilgrims did. Race provides disconcerting undercurrents to the epic events of American history, like the Revolutionary War and the settlement of the West. It lurks behind discussions of many public issues, perhaps all of them. At any given moment, the American struggle with race gives us reason to hope and reasons to fear the future.
By many standards, minorities are much better off than they were 40 years ago, when the civil rights movement won its most enduring victories. High school and college graduation rates, life expectancy, home ownership and political participation all have risen substantially for African-Americans, Hispanics and Asian-Americans. The black poverty rate has hit its lowest level ever.
And yet blacks are still three times more likely than whites to be poor, and twice as likely to be unemployed. African-American and Hispanic men with college degrees earn less than their white counterparts. Roughly 13 percent of black men are ineligible to vote because of a felony conviction, and one study contends the U.S. has more blacks behind bars than South Africa did under apartheid. Other recent studies have found that whites receive better medical treatment than blacks even when they have the same insurance coverage, and that African-Americans face higher mortgage rates regardless of their credit histories. Fifty years after the Brown vs. Board of Education ruling that struck down segregation in public schools, statistics show most black children and many Hispanic ones still attend schools that are mostly minority. (For what people thought about the Brown vs. Board of Education ruling at the time, visit our special edition, Snapshots in Time: The Public in the Civil Rights Era.
Changing demographics
Historically, the dominant discussion on race relations in America has been between blacks and whites, but demographic trends and immigration are changing that. Hispanics are now the largest minority group in the U.S., according to the Census Bureau. And as attitudes have changed, interracial dating and marriage have become more common, which means there is a small but growing number of mixed-race Americans. By 2050 census estimates predict that non-Hispanic whites, who are now 74 percent of Americans, will only account for 54 percent of the population.
In some respects, Hispanics lag even further behind than blacks -- substantially fewer Hispanics graduate from high school, and substantially more go without health insurance. But Hispanics also have a lower unemployment rate than blacks, and as a group get somewhat higher SAT scores. Asian-Americans are ahead of blacks and Hispanics and comparable to whites in many statistical areas, particularly in education.
Affirmative actions
Many people argue that the legacy of racism is so deeply ingrained that we still need to make extra efforts to balance it out. That's the impulse behind affirmative action, the ongoing attempt by government to redress past grievances through present-day racial and gender preferences in hiring, college admissions and contracting. Others say that legal segregation crumbled 40 years ago and we can’t keep blaming modern problems on the past. Affirmative action, these people argue, moves the country even farther from the goal of a "color-blind" society.
Ballot propositions in several states, including California and Texas, have struck down long-standing affirmative action plans. Some states, such as Texas, Florida and Georgia, have tried to solve the problem by guaranteeing admission at a state university to any high school student with a certain grade-point average. Proponents say this gives minority and low-income students an advantage because a "B" average from a poor inner-city high school counts the same as a "B" from a rich suburban school. Opponents say the system ends up guaranteeing admission to suburban students who don't really need the help.
The U.S. Supreme Court, in a closely watched case involving the University of Michigan, made a partial endorsement of affirmative action in 2003. The court ruled that race can be a factor, but not an overriding factor, in admissions policy. While the court's ruling will permit affirmative action in some form, it still leaves debate over exactly how to implement it.
Of police and profiles
In recent years, much of the racial debate has focused on police conduct, or misconduct, toward minorities. That includes "racial profiling" -- the officially improper but widely practiced police technique of identifying potential suspects by their race. African-Americans said the practice had become so prevalent among traffic officers that they coined a new, ironic term: "DWB," or "driving while black." Several large police departments, along with all federal law enforcement agencies and some states, have ordered their officers to begin collecting racial data on traffic stops and other contacts with the public, to try and gauge the extent of profiling.
Sept. 11, and the threat it raised of Islamic terrorism, put a different spin on events. Polls show most Americans reject the profiling of blacks but not necessarily profiling in general. A Public Agenda survey in 2002 found most Americans - including a majority of African-Americans - view the racial profiling by police of Middle Eastern men in the aftermath of Sept. 11 as regrettable but not intolerable. (More information is available in Public Agenda's running analysis of public opinion on terrorism.)
Surveys find that whites and African Americans agree on what’s right and wrong when it comes to police conduct. But African-Americans are far less confident that the police will act professionally or that the courts will treat them fairly. Younger white people are also more likely to be skeptical of how the police treat minorities. (More information on police conduct is also available in our Crime issue guide.)
Polls apart
Surveys find majorities of both minorities and whites say there is still racial discrimination in society, but also say that things have improved. But when it comes to perceptions of racial equality -- and the intensity of those perceptions -- the views of blacks and whites are a world apart. Six in 10 blacks and four in 10 Hispanics say racism in the workplace is a major problem, for example, but only two in 10 whites believe that.
That pattern is also significant on affirmative action. Strong majorities of all races say that hiring, promotions, and college admissions should be "strictly on merit." Yet surveys also show that minorities, especially blacks, are much more likely than whites to favor "extra efforts" to recruit minorities. More than half of Americans say employers should be required by law to maintain diversity in the workplace, but strongly disagree with giving jobs to minorities over equally qualified whites. There is overall support for programs that provide "assistance" for minorities getting a job, getting promoted or getting into college. But support among whites drops dramatically when the question refers to minorities getting "preference."
Personal experience may play a key role in these perceptions. Far more blacks (44 percent) say they’ve been treated like potential shoplifters than whites (30 percent). And 57 percent of blacks say they believe they’ve been pulled over by police because of their race, compared to 11 percent of the general public.
On some questions, the change in public attitudes has been dramatic over the past half-century. For example, in 1957 an overwhelming 94 percent disapproved of interracial marriage; now nearly three-quarters approve of it.
Choicework
For additional perspective on how society could address this issue, visit our Discussion Guide which sets out three alternative approaches.
The points of view are drawn both from what the experts say about an issue and from what the public thinks about it, based on surveys and focus groups. We call this section "Choicework." Each point of view comes with the arguments for and against, along with some potential costs and tradeoffs.