Poll: Most Say Race Relations Are Good

For the first time in CBS news' polling history, a majority of both blacks and whites see improved race relations.

Fifty-nine percent of African Americans -- along with 65 percent of whites -- now characterize the relationship between blacks and whites in America as "good," according to a new CBS News/New York Times survey. Less than a year ago, just 29 percent of blacks said race relations were good. The percentage of blacks who say race relations are bad, meanwhile, has dropped from 59 percent last July to 30 percent today.

Sixty-one percent of blacks say there has been real progress in getting rid of racial discrimination since the 1960s. That's up from 37 percent in December 1996. Eighty-seven percent of whites say there has been real progress since the 1960s.

Source - Poll: Blacks See Improved Race Relations

The CBS/New York Times poll says this is not about Barack Obama's election.

But clearly the election of Obama, and the way people of all colors pulled together to make that happen, was a revelation for many of us. When I recall conversations with black and white people who feared that Obama could never win because of his skin color, it feels like a time very distant from now.

I think race relations have improved, too. I sense a renewed willingness to talk about racial issues and to do some listening. I would not characterize race relations as good or bad. I would characterize them as still wounded and in need of great care. We need to continue conversations and actions to reconcile issues where there is great disconnect and problems still fester unaddressed.

Despite the increasingly positive perceptions, however, most blacks feel that discrimination lingers. Asked who has a better chance to get ahead in U.S. society, 51percent of blacks said white people do. Forty-four percent said both races had equal opportunity, while just 1 percent said blacks had an advantage. White people, by contrast, were far more likely to see a level playing field, with 62 percent saying both races had equal opportunity. Roughly one in four white said white people have a better chance to get ahead, while 7 percent of whites said black people have better opportunities.

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