Baptist News Global
Sections
  • News
  • Analysis
  • Opinion
  • Curated
  • Storytelling
    • Faith & Justice >
      • Charleston: Metanoia with Bill Stanfield
      • Charlotte: QC Family Tree with Greg and Helms Jarrell
      • Little Rock: Judge Wendell Griffen
      • North Carolina: Conetoe
    • Welcoming the Stranger >
      • Lost Boys of Sudan: St. John’s Baptist Charlotte
      • Awakening to Immigrant Justice: Myers Park Baptist Church
      • Hospitality on the corner: Gaston Christian Center
    • Signature Ministries >
      • Jake Hall: Gospel Gothic, Music and Radio
    • Singing Our Faith >
      • Hymns for a Lifetime: Ken Wilson and Knollwood Baptist Church
      • Norfolk Street Choir
    • Resilient Rural America >
      • Alabama: Perry County
      • Texas: Hidalgo County
      • Arkansas Delta
      • Southeast Kentucky
  • More
    • Contact
    • About
    • Donate
    • Planned Giving
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Advertising
    • Ministry Jobs and More
    • Transitions
    • Subscribe
    • Submissions and Permissions
Donate Subscribe
Search Search this site

If you think racial equity exists in America today, you’re in the minority

NewsJeff Brumley  |  August 3, 2021

Americans who contend there’s a level playing field for Blacks and whites today are in the minority of public opinion, according to new research by Gallup.

The polling firm finds a growing number of Americans believe non-white people are subject to disparities in employment and housing that whites do not face.

“Americans have become less confident in recent years that equality exists for Black people in the nation, as well as in their own community,” the polling organization said in a July 30 survey summary titled “Americans’ Confidence in Racial Fairness Waning.”

The new data points to an already-documented trend for Americans to be more positive about local than national conditions in a number of areas. On race and opportunity, a declining majority still believe Black adults have the same chance as white people in their community to get jobs or housing, while less than half (40%) perceive racial equality exists nationally.

Perceptions of inequality have grown more visible since the 2020 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Gallup explained. “Americans were already becoming more skeptical following the peak of optimism in 2009 — President Barack Obama’s first year in office. In later years, particularly after 2013, public perceptions of Black-white relations began to deteriorate over several cases of unarmed Black men being killed during encounters with White police officers.”

The survey’s release also comes in a year of hot debate over Critical Race Theory, which holds that systemic racism influences housing, hiring and other local, state and federal laws and policies.

While religious and political conservatives condemn Critical Race Theory as “socialist” doctrine, the legal theory’s development since the 1970s has illuminated facets of U.S. history and inspired the creation of affirmative action and other programs designed to generate racial equality.

Gallup’s latest minority rights and relations survey, conducted June 1 to July 15, found less certainty among U.S. adults that equal economic opportunities exist for Black Americans: “Also, less than half of Americans believe racial minorities, generally, have the same job opportunities as white people in the U.S. And six in 10 now favor affirmative action programs for racial minorities, up from less than half a decade ago.”

A majority of U.S. adults (55%) said they believe professionally qualified Black Americans have the same opportunities as white people to be hired for jobs in their own communities. However, that is down from 58% in 2020 and from 70% in 2011, Gallup said.

“Forty-four percent now disagree with this sentiment, in line with the 42% recorded last year but otherwise the highest since Gallup’s earliest readings, in 1963,” the report added.

A similar trend was spotted among attitudes toward fairness in housing, with 60% of survey respondents saying Black Americans have the same opportunities for affordable accommodations as whites: “While roughly the same as last year’s 63%, this is down from 67% in 2018 and around 80% from 1997 through 2015. Just under four in 10 (39%) now disagree that Black people have the same housing opportunities as white people in their community.”

Gallup found even lower confidence in workforce equality for Blacks and other non-white employees. “Separately, the poll finds less than half of Americans (40%) believing racial minorities, generally, in the country have equal job opportunities with white people, down from 45% in the last measurement in 2018 and from 53% in 2008.”

Conversely, 59% believe racial minorities do not have equal job opportunities, a majority that has increased from 52% in 2016 and 54% in 2018, Gallup said.

Survey responses broken down by ethnicity revealed gaps in answers.

“Majorities of white Americans — now 61% — contrasted with less than half of Black Americans (now 31%), believe that Black people have the same chance as white people to get a job in their community,” the researchers said.

Hispanic Americans have tended to be closer to Caucasian views on these issues since 2004, when their views began to be tracked. “As with white adults, a majority of Hispanic adults believe that equal housing opportunity exists for Black people in their community, but this declined from 77% in 2013 to 63% today.”

During that stretch, Gallup said it also has tracked 20-percentage-point declines in the rate of Black and white Americans who believe equal housing exists for Black people in their communities. “Belief in this has declined from 85% to 65% over this period among white adults and from 56% to 36% among Black adults.”

The survey picked up an overall increase in support for affirmative action programs for racial minorities, with 62% — the same percentage seen in 2018 — in favor. “But this is up from 54% in 2016 and is the highest in the trend since 2001. In that initial measure, 47% favored it.”

Analyzed by race, Gallup said support for affirmative action has jumped among white and Hispanic adults since 2016 to 57% and 79%, respectively.

Support for affirmative action has jumped among white and Hispanic adults since 2016 to 57% and 79%, respectively.

Previously, fewer than half of white adults and a little more than six in 10 Hispanic adults favored affirmative action. Gallup added that support for the programs declined among Black adults from 75% to 69% since 2016.

“The percentage of Black adults favoring affirmative action today is similar to what it was in the early 2000s, while the rates are significantly higher among white and Hispanic adults,” the study found.

While majorities across ethnic lines currently favor affirmative action programs, Gallup added, “one thing that hasn’t changed is the racial gap in attitudes about equal rights, with Black Americans maintaining a much more negative outlook than white Americans.”

Tags:DiscriminationRaceracismemploymenthousingGallupequal opportunityaffirmative actionlevel playing field
More by
Jeff Brumley
  • Get BNG headlines in your inbox

  • BNG dinner will bring together Anthea Butler and Beth Allison Barr for a conversation on race and gender

    Two of the most prominent voices speaking to the American church about race and gender will appear together at the Baptist News Global dinner during the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s General Assembly in Dallas this June. Get your tickets now!

  • Featured

    • White supremacy and firearm idolatry: America’s Baal

      Opinion

    • SBC establishes hotline to receive reports of sexual abuse in churches

      News

    • After the Guidepost report: Dwelling with evil while living into hope

      Opinion

    • SBC presidential candidate says Executive Committee’s waiver of attorney-client privilege was ‘not wise’

      News


    Curated

    • Buffalo and Uvalde both appear to have involved the AR-15, the rifle revered by the Christian right

      Buffalo and Uvalde both appear to have involved the AR-15, the rifle revered by the Christian right

      May 27, 2022
    • Ukrainians Count The Days As They Pray

      Ukrainians Count The Days As They Pray

      May 27, 2022
    • Texans plan interfaith protest at Friday’s NRA convention in Houston

      Texans plan interfaith protest at Friday’s NRA convention in Houston

      May 27, 2022
    • Buffalo’s Black Christians Grieve the ‘Evil Among Us’

      Buffalo’s Black Christians Grieve the ‘Evil Among Us’

      May 27, 2022
    Read Next:

    Mass murder and the soundtrack of our lives

    OpinionJustin Cox

    More Articles

    • All
    • News
    • Opinion
    • Curated
    • Former SBC President Johnny Hunt admits improper conduct but denies abuse claims

      NewsDavid Bumgardner

    • America, blood is on your hands

      OpinionJamar A. Boyd II

    • Guns, the elders and the children

      OpinionSusan K. Smith

    • They were attending a conference on Scripture and violence when the Uvalde massacre happened

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • On another classroom full of murdered children

      OpinionDavid Gushee, Senior Columnist

    • Now is the time when we need to hear white evangelical leaders refute white supremacy

      OpinionJoel Bowman Sr.

    • Does the SBC have enough sackcloth?

      OpinionTerry Austin

    • SBC Executive Committee releases previously secret list of convicted and credibly accused church sexual abusers

      NewsDavid Bumgardner

    • Calvinist Baptist pastor says Guidepost recommendations in sexual abuse report are ‘harmful’ and threaten ‘the sufficiency of Scripture’

      NewsDavid Bumgardner

    • Title 42 is expelling the good people, not the bad people, border advocate explains

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • What happens when the good news of therapy and the good news of Scripture conflict?

      OpinionRebecca Hewitt-Newson

    • Sick of war, church leaders in South Sudan recommit to finding peace

      NewsAnthony Akaeze

    • White supremacy and firearm idolatry: America’s Baal

      OpinionBill Leonard, Senior Columnist

    • The European option: Why we need a third way on abortion

      AnalysisAlan Bean

    • After the Guidepost report: Dwelling with evil while living into hope

      OpinionKathy Manis Findley

    • SBC establishes hotline to receive reports of sexual abuse in churches

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Becoming UNSTOPPABLE Christians

      Paid Promoted Content

    • SBC presidential candidate says Executive Committee’s waiver of attorney-client privilege was ‘not wise’

      NewsDavid Bumgardner

    • Rights, responsibilities and the two-fold commandment of love: A reflection on gun violence in America

      OpinionGreg Garrett, Senior Columnist

    • Mass murder and the soundtrack of our lives

      OpinionJustin Cox

    • Letter to the Editor: Where are the repentant SBC leaders?

      OpinionLetters to the Editor

    • What I learned listening to others who have left the faith

      AnalysisRick Pidcock

    • United Methodist model could help Southern Baptists recover from sexual abuse scandal

      AnalysisCynthia Astle

    • Who is Augie Boto, the central figure in the SBC sexual abuse cover up?

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • This is more than just sin

      OpinionMeredith Stone

    • Former SBC President Johnny Hunt admits improper conduct but denies abuse claims

      NewsDavid Bumgardner

    • They were attending a conference on Scripture and violence when the Uvalde massacre happened

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • SBC Executive Committee releases previously secret list of convicted and credibly accused church sexual abusers

      NewsDavid Bumgardner

    • Calvinist Baptist pastor says Guidepost recommendations in sexual abuse report are ‘harmful’ and threaten ‘the sufficiency of Scripture’

      NewsDavid Bumgardner

    • Title 42 is expelling the good people, not the bad people, border advocate explains

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Sick of war, church leaders in South Sudan recommit to finding peace

      NewsAnthony Akaeze

    • SBC establishes hotline to receive reports of sexual abuse in churches

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • SBC presidential candidate says Executive Committee’s waiver of attorney-client privilege was ‘not wise’

      NewsDavid Bumgardner

    • Who is Augie Boto, the central figure in the SBC sexual abuse cover up?

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • SBC plans to release list of known sexual abusers in churches, refutes its own former general counsel

      NewsDavid Bumgardner, Jeff Brumley, Mark Wingfield and Maina Mwaura

    • On three-month anniversary of Russian invasion, Ukrainian Baptists and neighbors keep helping everyone they can

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • While SBC weeps over sexual abuse allegations, the TheoBros take on Beth Allison Barr one more time

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • SBC’s former law firm sharply disagrees with Sexual Abuse Task Force report

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Ministry jobs and more

      NewsBarbara Francis

    • Hearing from victims’ families changed the death penalty debate in Connecticut

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • What’s next for recommendations and reforms in SBC sexual abuse study?

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Guidepost report documents pattern of ignoring, denying and deflecting on sexual abuse claims in SBC

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Author considers how to mourn what’s lost when the faithful leave church

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • As joblessness rocks South Africa, fake pastor diplomas are in demand

      NewsRay Mwareya and Nyasha Bhobo

    • Why breaking up is so hard to do for United Methodists: Connectionalism

      NewsCynthia Astle

    • Oklahoma legislators say life begins at ‘fertilization’

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Baptists in Ukraine continue their humanitarian work amid devastation

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Louisville police training quoted Bible verse to say officers are God’s agents of wrath

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Transitions for the week of 5-20-22

      NewsBarbara Francis

    • ‘It’s still the economy, stupid’

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • America, blood is on your hands

      OpinionJamar A. Boyd II

    • Guns, the elders and the children

      OpinionSusan K. Smith

    • On another classroom full of murdered children

      OpinionDavid Gushee, Senior Columnist

    • Now is the time when we need to hear white evangelical leaders refute white supremacy

      OpinionJoel Bowman Sr.

    • Does the SBC have enough sackcloth?

      OpinionTerry Austin

    • What happens when the good news of therapy and the good news of Scripture conflict?

      OpinionRebecca Hewitt-Newson

    • White supremacy and firearm idolatry: America’s Baal

      OpinionBill Leonard, Senior Columnist

    • After the Guidepost report: Dwelling with evil while living into hope

      OpinionKathy Manis Findley

    • Rights, responsibilities and the two-fold commandment of love: A reflection on gun violence in America

      OpinionGreg Garrett, Senior Columnist

    • Mass murder and the soundtrack of our lives

      OpinionJustin Cox

    • Letter to the Editor: Where are the repentant SBC leaders?

      OpinionLetters to the Editor

    • This is more than just sin

      OpinionMeredith Stone

    • Remember the women: The Southern Baptist cover up of sexual abuse

      OpinionPam Durso

    • Don’t overlook the depth of the disease in the SBC

      OpinionPaula Garrett

    • Tear down the SBC Executive Committee and replace it

      OpinionLayne Wallace

    • It’s time to stop giving Christianity a pass on white supremacy and violence

      OpinionRobert P. Jones

    • SBC report shows how five words turn abuse victim from ‘survivor’ to ‘whore’

      OpinionMarv Knox

    • Former foster youth need to know they are not abandoned

      OpinionAlbert L. Reyes

    • What I learned about Polish hospitality toward Ukrainians: There but for the grace of God

      OpinionPatrick Wilson

    • Stop using Jesus to disguise your predatory patriarchy

      OpinionJessica Abell and Stephany Rose Spaulding

    • Sadly, I agree that a complementarian seminary shouldn’t offer women degrees in pastoral theology

      OpinionAnna Sieges

    • Intolerable cruelty is killing us

      OpinionKris Aaron

    • Another racist mass shooting and our failure to tend Jesus’ sheep

      OpinionEmily Holladay

    • Learning about change from Henry Ford

      OpinionBob Newell

    • Hymn stories: ‘Christ is alive! Let Christians sing’

      OpinionBeverly A. Howard

    • Buffalo and Uvalde both appear to have involved the AR-15, the rifle revered by the Christian right

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Ukrainians Count The Days As They Pray

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Texans plan interfaith protest at Friday’s NRA convention in Houston

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Buffalo’s Black Christians Grieve the ‘Evil Among Us’

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Senate GOP blocks domestic terrorism bill, gun policy debate

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Supreme Court declines to hear 2 different attempts to stop longtime Ann Arbor synagogue protesters

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Dispute over mosque becomes religious flashpoint in India

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Texas shooting live updates: Officials reveal more details about how the Uvalde school shooting unfolded

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • ‘He’s Just A Salesman’: Former Morningside Band Director Talks Bakker’s Ministry Tactics

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • After 2,000 UK Church Buildings Close, New Church Plants Get Creative

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Many Jewish World War II Soldiers Had Christian Burials. That’s Changing.

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Questions Archbishop’s Decision Regarding Communion Ban

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Burka Enforcement and Burka Bans: Where Extremist Policies Meet

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Climate Change Indicators Reach Record Levels

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • The Catholic Church’s views on exorcism have changed – a religious studies scholar explains why

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Indiana pastor admits ‘adultery’; woman says she was a teen

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Church of Scotland Approves Same-Sex Marriage

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBob Allen and Jeff Brumley

    • Banned from Communion in San Francisco, Pelosi receives Eucharist in Washington

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Senior Israeli lawmaker warns of “religious war” over Jerusalem moves

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Minnesota GOP apologizes for Soros puppetmaster video

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • If the media are reluctant to properly label the GOP’s racist, Christian nationalist ideologies, we’ll have trouble hanging on to democracy

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Pope voices hope church in China can operate in freedom

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Telehealth abortion demand is soaring. But access may come down to where you live

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • With AIPAC funding primary campaigns, young Jewish progressives move further left

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Welsh First Minister ‘regrets’ that Franklin Graham is coming to Wales

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    Conversations that Matter.

    © 2022 Baptist News Global. All rights reserved.

    Want to share a story? We hope you will! Read our republishing, terms of use and privacy policies here.

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • RSS