Obama and race - Silence is golden: Salon
Wednesday, April 29, 2009 at 10:22AM April 29, 2009 | A recent New York Times/CBS News poll shows that Barack Obama's 100-day-old presidency has already had a remarkably positive effect on race relations in America. When asked, "Are race relations in the U.S. generally good or generally bad?" 66 percent of Americans answered that they were good, with just 22 percent saying they were bad. Asked the same question last July, 53 percent said race relations were good, 37 percent bad. The number of black respondents who said race relations were good doubled since the earlier NYT/CBS poll.
In follow-up interviews, whites and blacks alike cited the fact that Obama is president as the main reason for the improved racial atmosphere. "With him as president, people seem to be working together toward the same goals, and that has helped race relations," Jacqueline Luster, a 60-year-old black woman, said. "Before there was more of a separation, blacks working for black goals and whites for white goals." Mary Robertson, a 78-year-old white woman, said Obama's "openness and acceptance have helped others be more open and accepting." more
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