Pew Survey: Views on US race relations vary according to skin color today

It should be no surprise to anyone that one's view of race relations in the US depends on one's skin color.

As the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington approaches on Aug. 28, the Pew Research Center found that White Americans are wearing rose-colored glasses when looking at race relations -- in complete contrast to the perspective held by Asian Americans and other people of color.

Pew asked Americans about their views on Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy, the country’s progress on racial equality, and what they think needs to change in order to achieve racial equality. 

What is surprising 60 years after the March on Washington and King's famous "I Have A Dream" speech, there is still widespread ignorance of Americans of one of the nation's great events and public figure in American history. 

The survey suggests that the US education system is doing a poor job of teaching the long struggle for equality and civil rights.

Most Americans (81%) say King has had a positive impact on the country, with 47% saying he had a very positive impact. Fewer (38%) say their own views on racial equality have been influenced by King’s legacy a great deal or a fair amount.

FYI: Read the full report, "Martin Luther King Jr.'s Legacy 60 Years After the March on Washington

According to the survey, Americans are divided on whether society overlooks racial discrimination or sees it where it doesn't exist: 

• 53% say people not seeing racial discrimination where it really does exist is the bigger problem.
• 45% point to people seeing racial discrimination where it really doesn't exist as the larger issue.

Views on this have changed in recent years, according to Pew Research Center surveys: In 2019, 57% said people overlooking racial discrimination was the bigger problem, while 42% pointed to people seeing it where it really didn't exist. The gap has narrowed from 15 to 8 percentage points.

Overall, about half of Americans (52%) say there has been a great deal or fair amount of progress on racial equality in the last 60 years. A third say there’s been some progress and 15% say there has been not much or no progress at all.

But a closer look at the survey finds wide differences when broken down by race, ethnicity and partisanship – and in some cases also by age and education.

While 58% of White Americans say there has been a great deal or fair amount of progress on racial equality in the last 60 years, smaller shares of Asian (47%), Hispanic (45%) and Black (30%) Americans say the same.

In addition, 59% of Black adults say their personal views on racial equality have been influenced by King a great deal or a fair amount, compared with 38% of Hispanic adults, 34% of White adults and 34% of Asian adults.

Republicans and those who lean Republican (67%) are more likely than Democrats and Democratic leaners (38%) to say there has been a great deal or a fair amount of progress on racial equality.

Other key findings from the survey of 5,073 U.S. adults, conducted April 10-16, 2023, on Pew Research Center’s American Trends Panels :

• 60% of Americans say they have heard or read a great deal or a fair amount about King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Black adults are the most likely to say this, at 80%, compared with 60% of White adults, 49% of Hispanic adults and 41% of Asian adults. Adults ages 65 and older and those with at least a bachelor’s degree are more likely than younger adults and those with less education to be highly familiar with King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

• More Americans (52%) say efforts to ensure equality for all, regardless of race or ethnicity, haven’t gone far enough than say they have gone too far (20%) or been about right (27%). About eight-in-ten Black adults (83%) say efforts to ensure racial equality haven’t gone far enough, which is larger than the shares of Hispanic (58%), Asian (55%) and White (44%) adults who say the same. Most Democrats (78%) say these efforts haven’t gone far enough, compared with 24% of Republicans. Some 37% of Republicans say these efforts have gone too far.

• A majority (58%) of those who say efforts to ensure equality haven’t gone far enough think it’s unlikely that there will be racial equality in their lifetime. Those who say efforts have been about rightare more optimistic: Within this group, 39% say racial equality is extremely or very likely in their lifetime, while 36% say it is somewhat likely and 24% say it’s not too or not at all likely.

• Many people who say efforts to ensure racial equality haven’t gone far enough say several systems need to be completely rebuilt to ensure equality. The prison system is at the top of the list, with 44% in this group saying it needs to be completely rebuilt. More than a third say the same about policing (38%) and the political system (37%). Black Americans, Democrats and adults younger than 30 who say efforts to ensure racial equality haven’t gone far enough are among the most likely to say several systems, ranging from the economic system to the prison system, need to be completely rebuilt to ensure equality.

• 70% of Americans say marches and demonstrations that don’t disrupt everyday life are always or often acceptable ways to protest racial inequality. And 59% say the same about boycotts. Fewer than half (39%) see sit-ins as an acceptable form of protest. Much smaller shares say activities that disrupt everyday life – such as shutting down streets or traffic (13%) and actions that result in damage to public or private property (5%) – are acceptable.

While Whites believe race relations is getting better in the US, hate attacks against people of color are on the rise according to FBI statistics. Hate crimes against Asians have risen 167%, the largest increase among all racial and ethnic groups, according to the FBI. Hate incidents are becoming  more flagrant; witness the rise of White supremacist organizations like the Proud Boys and the Patriot Front and the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan and the American Nazi Party.

Knowledge of the civil rights struggle and MLK's influence will only get worse as school boards and state legislatures from Tennessee to Idaho are banning schools' teaching about the racism that has driven much of US history. The most egregious recent example is  in Florida where Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered schools to teach that slaves benefited from slavery. 

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me at Threads.net/eduardodiok, @DioknoEd on Twitter or at the  blog Views From the Edge.