POLL: Sizable Portion of American Public Have No Friends of Other Races
According to a recent poll, a sizable portion of the American public have no friends of other races.
Roughly 40 percent of whites and about 25 percent of non-whites have no friends outside of their own race.
The results highlight America’s persistent segregation and stark polarization on issues involving race.
Some of this is down to precedent. “This country has a pretty long history of restriction on inter-racial contact and for whites and blacks, even though it’s in the past, there are still echoes of this,” said Ann Morning, an associate professor in the department of sociology at New York University.
“Hispanics and Asian Americans have traditionally had less strict lines about integrating.”
In his comments two weeks ago, President Obama expressed optimism about the future, saying his daughters’ experiences show younger generations have fewer issues with race. “It doesn’t mean we’re in a post-racial society. It doesn’t mean that racism is eliminated. But…they’re better than we are, they’re better than we were, on these issues,” he said.
Younger American adults appear to confirm this, according to the poll. About one third of Americans under the age of 30 who have a partner or spouse are in a relationship with someone of a different race, compared to one tenth of Americans over 30. And only one in 10 adults under 30 say no one among their families, friends or coworkers is of a different race, less than half the rate for Americans as a whole.
Thoughts on the results of this poll?
Do you have friends of other races?
Sound off below!