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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Poll: Blacks optimistic about future |
| 2010-01-13 |
| Is this the result of more blacks getting a higher education? I doubt the system has changed much for at least 20 years, if not longer. A year after the election of America's first African-American president, blacks in the United States are expressing optimism about racial progress not seen in a quarter-century, according to a new report by the Pew Research Center. Thirty-nine percent of African-Americans said the "situation of black people in this country" is better than it was five years ago, nearly twice the 20 percent who said the same in 2007. The optimism is not limited to the present, but covers the future as well. A majority of African-Americans polled, 53 percent, said that life for blacks in the future will be better than it is now. Two years ago, the number was 44 percent. The historic election of Barack Obama to the White House appears to have played a role in the positive sentiment. Fifty-four percent of African-Americans said they think Obama's barrier-breaking election has improved race relations in America. One-third of whites polled agreed, while 45 percent said his election has made no difference in race relations. Personal finances have improved for blacks, according to the report. One-third of African-Americans polled rated their financial situation as excellent or good. In 2006, the number was 27 percent. During the same time frame, economic fortunes for whites slumped, dropping from 52 percent then to 35 percent now. Even with the upbeat findings, more than eight in 10 African-Americans said the country needs to make more changes before blacks have equal rights with whites. About one-third of whites agreed. The phone survey of 2,884 adults was conducted October 28 - November 30, 2009, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.0 percentage points for the full sample. Error rates vary among sub-groups within the survey. |
| Posted by:gorb |
| #20 BTW, from the BLS data, black unemployment is still rising while all other groups have stabilized or are declining. |
| Posted by: ed 2010-01-13 23:45 |
| #19 Scooter, that's the dumbest thing you've said on this site. Think before posting. Actually, I think that's the first dumb thing Scooter has posted here. I'm quite certain he won't do it again, independent of the fact that we really don't want to know such things. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2010-01-13 23:43 |
| #18 Black unemployment has doubled to 16.2%. Forget it if you are a young, black and untrained. BLS: THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION -- DECEMBER 2009 Unemployment rates for the major worker groups--adult men (10.2 percent), adult women (8.2 percent), teenagers (27.1 percent), whites (9.0 percent), blacks (16.2 percent), and Hispanics (12.9 percent)--showed little change in December. The unemployment rate for Asians was 8.4 percent, not seasonally adjusted. What has changed is the color of the occupant in the White House: Red. It's all about propaganda. |
| Posted by: ed 2010-01-13 23:33 |
| #17 Someone needs to regress this against opinions of public sector and unionized workers. Blacks are disproportionately employed in the public sector. I suspect that Barry's deliberate and massive shifting of wealth and resources toward these groups from private sector non-unionized types would explain much of the optimism seen here. |
| Posted by: lex 2010-01-13 23:09 |
| #16 Scooter, that's the dumbest thing you've said on this site. Think before posting. |
| Posted by: mom 2010-01-13 22:56 |
| #15 Well, good for you N.S. As for me, I think I'd take the trade. At the very least, I would probably have a much bigger d!ck. |
| Posted by: Scooter McGruder 2010-01-13 22:27 |
| #14 It sounds like he was a good kid underneath, Raj, if he actually listened to both his girlfriend and you. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2010-01-13 21:47 |
| #13 Well, its a public service you did, much obliged. |
| Posted by: Ben_Franklin 2010-01-13 21:24 |
| #12 I yelled at this black youth tonight on the train about the noise level on his cell phone. After some grumbling and a word from his gf to 'let it go', there was no more noise. Am I failing to do my part? Am I mean spirited? |
| Posted by: Raj 2010-01-13 21:07 |
| #11 Golly, if it's so great to be black, I'm sure you'd rather trade your life for that of an American black at a comparable relative position in the black hierarchy to the one you hold in the white. I know I wouldn't. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2010-01-13 20:46 |
| #10 I agree with Besoeker. I never owned slaves. My dad never owned slaves. My grandparents never owned slaves. None of my great-grandparents ever owned slaves. Yet I'm paying an economic penalty for the evils of slavery by way of quotas and preferential hiring. How is that fair? Should I not be bitter? I see racial progress, but only in the sense of institutionalized racial classes, racism in a very pure form. We should have equality of opportunity -- NOT equality of results. I feel especially bad for Asians who overachieve simply through hard work and are penalized at least as much as White folk. Why shouldn't Blacks be feeling good? The entire system is totally rigged in their favor. They have it made. |
| Posted by: Scooter McGruder 2010-01-13 17:43 |
| #9 That depends quite heavily on what data are collected and how, alas. |
| Posted by: lotp 2010-01-13 16:24 |
| #8 I'm not a big fan of stereotypes, per se. However, more often than not when people use the phrase, "stereotypically speaking," what they really mean is "statistically speaking," and I have no problem with statistics. The data don't lie. |
| Posted by: eltoroverde 2010-01-13 15:35 |
| #7 On NPR this morning, if I can recall correctly, they conceded that the improvement in the situation for blacks had been occurring for years but blacks had only felt comfortable conceding the point after the election of a black president. Similarly, I hope this allows them to open their minds enough to cast their vote individually on the basis of their interest rather than as a racial block based on party initial. If so, something positive will have come of The One's victory. |
| Posted by: Spike Flusose5942 2010-01-13 15:22 |
| #6 You happen to be wrong, Besoeker. There are plenty of blacks who are payers, and plenty of whites who are payees. I see it every day. Might want to re-think your opinions. What you say may be true, but the scales are tipped heavily in a particular direction. I will leave it for you to figure out which direction. Opinions or biases, you're way too easy with the stereotypes... Stereotypes exist for a reason, it's because they are based on reality and far more common that the sensitive Liberals would like to accept. You sound like a Liberal. |
| Posted by: Throsing Poodle5798 2010-01-13 15:13 |
| #5 You may call it stereotyping if you must. I call it simple 'behavioral identifiction.' When the 95%'r voting block crowd begins to endorse LTC(Ret) Allen West for congress, reading Williams, Perkins or Sowell, saying something respectful about Supreme Court Jusice Clarence Thomas....please ring me up. Until then, I'll continue to believe my old lying eyes. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2010-01-13 15:12 |
| #4 Opinions or biases, you're way too easy with the stereotypes Besoeker. |
| Posted by: Visitor 2010-01-13 13:00 |
| #3 You happen to be wrong, Besoeker. There are plenty of blacks who are payers, and plenty of whites who are payees. I see it every day. Might want to re-think your opinions. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2010-01-13 12:56 |
| #2 Personal finances have improved for During the same time frame, economic fortunes for There, strange anomoly resolved. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2010-01-13 11:49 |
| #1 Mind boggles. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2010-01-13 11:42 |