Blacks Feel More Optimistic
Fully 62% of non-Hispanic blacks now believe that Americans can always solve problems; in 2007 only 41% shared that confidence.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Fully 62% of non-Hispanic blacks now believe that Americans can always solve problems; in 2007 only 41% shared that confidence.
Two-thirds of Americans (67%) say they plan to watch Obama’s inauguration on Jan. 20; not surprisingly, even higher percentages of Democrats, Obama voters and African Americans say they plan to tune in.
Roughly half of Americans say people like themselves would gain influence under the Obama administration.
Nearly half of Americans (46%) are unable to correctly identify Barack Obama as a Christian including 13% who still maintain that he is a Muslim and another 16% who say they have heard different things about his religion.
That’s the proportion of African Americans who say that the income gap between whites and blacks has widened over the last decade.
More than four in ten Americans (43%) say that the use of torture can be justified to gain key information sometimes (31%) or often (12%).
Majorities in 14 of 23 countries have a favorable opinion of Americans, compared with only eight with a favorable opinion of the U.S.
Only 17% of African Americans view gangsta rapper 50 Cent as a “good influence,” by far the lowest approval rating accorded any on a list of black newsmakers in a recent Pew survey.
As voters go to the polls in Ohio, Texas, Rhode Island and Vermont, seven-in-ten Democrats (70%) say Obama is most likely to win the party’s nomination, while just 17% see Clinton as the likely victor. Even a majority (52%) of Clinton’s backers say they think Obama is likely to emerge as the winner.
Nearly nine-in-ten black respondents (87%) view TV talk show host Oprah Winfrey as a positive influence in the black community; in a virtual tie with Winfrey is comedian, actor and author Bill Cosby.
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