logo
  • Nonprofit News
  • Management
    • Boards and Governance
    • Communication
      • Framing & Narratives
    • Ethics
    • Financial Management
    • Fund Development
    • Leadership
    • Technology
  • Philanthropy
    • Corporate Social Responsibility
    • Donor-Advised Funds
    • Foundations
    • Impact Investing
    • Research
    • Workplace Giving
  • Policy
    • Education
    • Healthcare
    • Housing
    • Government
    • Taxes
  • Economic Justice
    • Economy Remix
    • Economy Webinars
    • Community Benefits
    • Economic Democracy
    • Environmental Justice
    • Fair Finance
    • Housing Rights
    • Land Justice
    • Poor People’s Rights
    • Tax Fairness
  • Racial Equity
  • Social Movements
    • Community Development
    • Community Organizing
    • Culture Change
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Gender Equality
    • Immigrant Rights
    • Indigenous Rights
    • Labor
    • LGBTQ+
    • Racial Justice
    • Youth Activism
  • About Us
  • Log in
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Webinars
    • Leading Edge Membership
    • Sponsored Webinars
    • Economic Justice
  • Tiny Spark Podcast
  • Magazine
    • Magazine
    • Leading Edge Membership
Donate

Polls Indicate Majority of Americans Believe Racial Injustice Must Be Addressed

Ruth McCambridge
August 5, 2015
Share14
Tweet
Share
Email
14 Shares

Rose-colored

August 5, 2015; Washington Post, “The Fix”

A new Washington Post poll suggests that the recent attention focused on racial disparities in the United States has resulted in a marked change in public opinion, particularly since the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson.

In the WaPo poll, 60 percent of respondents said that the nation needs to continue making changes to give blacks and whites equal rights. That’s in contrast to a year ago, when only 46 percent felt that way according to a 2014 Pew Research Center poll that asked the same question.

This should indicate to all of us, in the same way that changing public opinion on LGBTQ issues did, that there may now be an opening to have the conversations and take the steps needed to address systemic racism in this country.

In the Post’s poll, the 14-point growth in support for changes comes from across the demographic and political spectrum. Majority opinion flipped among whites, with 53 percent now saying more changes are needed compared with 39 percent in 2014. Blacks are even more resolute than last year, with 90 percent saying changes are needed, rising 11 points from 2014. Among Hispanics, the share saying changes are needed to ensure equality for blacks rose 15 points, from 54 to 69 percent.

A New York Times/CBS News poll done in July also found increasing numbers of respondents who say race relations in the United States are in bad shape, particularly where the criminal justice system is concerned. But in a fascinating contrast, a Gallup poll shows that African Americans do not themselves think much has changed.

Those involved in organizing on this issue—the Black Lives Matter movement in particular—are owed kudos for making this long awaited moment of heightened consciousness; it’s up to all of us to make sure that it matters.—Ruth McCambridge

Share14
Tweet
Share
Email
14 Shares

About The Author
Ruth McCambridge

Ruth is Editor in Chief of the Nonprofit Quarterly. Her background includes forty-five years of experience in nonprofits, primarily in organizations that mix grassroots community work with policy change. Beginning in the mid-1980s, Ruth spent a decade at the Boston Foundation, developing and implementing capacity building programs and advocating for grantmaking attention to constituent involvement.

Related
The Challenges of Reconciliation and Reparations at Georgetown
By Ellen Davis
November 6, 2019
Starbucks Invests $10 Million in Chicago
By Catherine Jones
November 6, 2019
In Little Rock, State Proposal Would Create Two-Tiered Public School System
By Martin Levine
October 8, 2019
The Teddy Roosevelt Statue: A Monument to What?
By Martin Levine
September 27, 2019
Plantations Only Now Begin to Exit Role as Museums of Whitewashed Nonsense
By Carole Levine
September 12, 2019
Shifting the Narrative at Harvard Museums: Good, but Not Enough
By Carole Levine
September 4, 2019
other posts by The Author
Speculations on the Roots of the Loss of Small US Donors:...
By Ruth McCambridge
December 6, 2019
Houston United Way in its Own Crunch Does “Critical...
By Ruth McCambridge
December 6, 2019
A Bookstore Goes to the Museum: Mad Collaborations that Make...
By Ruth McCambridge
December 6, 2019
A Series on Sensemaking Organizations
The Sensemaking Organization: Designing for Complexity
The Sensemaking Mindset: Improvisation over Strategy
Structuring for Sensemaking: The Power of Small Segments
logo
Donate
  • About
  • Contact
  • Newsletters
  • Write for NPQ
  • Advertise
  • Writers
  • Funders
  • Copyright Policy
  • Privacy Policy

Subscribe to View Webinars

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

 

Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Powered by GDPR plugin
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.