Black and Hispanic Americans See Their Origins as Central to Who They Are, Less So for White Adults
About half of Americans see their identity reflected very well in the census’s race and ethnicity questions.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
About half of Americans see their identity reflected very well in the census’s race and ethnicity questions.
The U.S. Black population is growing. At the same time, how Black people self-identify is changing, with increasing shares considering themselves multiracial or Hispanic.
A record 3.8 million black immigrants live in the U.S. today, accounting for 8.7% of the nation’s black population, nearly triple their share in 1980. While half are from the Caribbean, African immigration has soared since 2000.
Five decades after Martin Luther King’s historic “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington, D.C., a new survey by the Pew Research Center finds that fewer than half (45%) of all Americans say the country has made substantial progress toward racial equality and about the same share (49%) say that “a lot more” remains to be done.
As a group, African Americans attracted relatively little attention in the U.S. mainstream news media during the first year of Barack Obama’s presidency — and what coverage there was tended to focus more on specific episodes than on examining how broader issues and trends affected the lives of blacks generally.
The topic of racial identification on census forms has a long, fascinating history, which has generated fresh debate as the 2010 Census begins.
Assessments about the state of black progress in America have improved more dramatically among blacks during the past two years than at any time in the past quarter century.
It may surprise anyone who has been following the charges of racism that have flared up during the debate over President Obama’s health care proposals, but the American public doesn’t see race as the source of the strongest social conflict in the country today.
While blacks and Hispanics hold broadly favorable views of each other, Hispanics are less likely to say the two groups get along well. At the same time, African Americans are far more likely than Latinos to say blacks are frequently the victims of racial discrimination.
African Americans see a widening gulf between the values of middle class and poor blacks, and nearly four-in-ten say that because of the diversity within their community, blacks can no longer be thought of as a single race.
1615 L St. NW, Suite 800
Washington, DC 20036
USA
(+1) 202-419-4300 | Main
(+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax
(+1) 202-419-4372 | Media Inquiries
ABOUT PEW RESEARCH CENTER Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts.
© 2024 Pew Research Center