Americans Divided Among Race, Class Lines
By David Gauvey Herbert
Tensions between different political, economic and racial backgrounds have worsened over the past decade, according to a USA Network poll released today.
The survey deals a blow to the idea that Pres. Obama's election has brought the country closer together. Just 5% of respondents said they believe race relations are no longer a problem, and 53% said we are still too divided along ethnic lines.
That contrasts with an Oct. 22 USA Today/Gallup poll, in which 61 percent of respondents said race relations would improve under Obama, and 41 percent believed they already had.
Meanwhile, the USA survey showed just 25% of respondents believe America's diversity is an indisputable advantage for the country. Fifty-five percent believe discord among Americans of different stripes has worsened in the last 10 years.
The poll, conducted by Hart Research Associates (D) and Public Opinion Strategies (R), is part of USA Network's "Characters Unite" project, which aims to promote "greater acceptance, understanding and mutual respect of all people."
Results were released on the eve of a "town hall" on American unity at the Newseum that will be hosted by former NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw.
That town hall could demonstrate rifts among segments of the population. Three in four respondents said Americans are too divided along partisan lines.
Recent presidential approval polls have suggested that the divide is only growing. In April, Pew Research Center reported a 61-percentage-point gap between his Democratic and Republican approval ratings, a record in that poll for a first-year president. Since then, that gulf has only grown. Obama sported an 82 percent approval rating among Democrats and 14 percent approval among Republicans in a Nov. 24 Gallup poll, a gap of 68 points.