More Americans Think Racism Is A 'Big Problem' In Society: Survey

A new nationwide poll conducted by CNN and the Kaiser Family Foundation revealed that 49 percent of Americans think racism is a “big problem” in society today, CNN reported Tuesday. Forty-one percent of Americans in 1995 said racism was a big problem in society, but only 28 percent of Americans felt that way in 2011.

The poll unearthed that 33 percent of survey respondents said racism is “somewhat of a problem” in society today, 9 percent answered that it was a small problem, 7 percent did not think it was a problem at all and 2 percent did not know if it was a problem or refused to answer.

Sixty-six percent of blacks and 64 percent of Hispanics said racism was a big problem, according to the poll, while only 43 percent of whites said the same. Now, Hispanics are more likely to say racism is a big problem than they were in 1995. For blacks, 68 percent said racism was a big problem in 1995, which dropped to 50 percent in 2011 and has now increased to 66 percent, CNN reported. Overall, the majority across races said tensions between racial and ethnic groups in the U.S. has increased in the past 10 years.

The poll was conducted Aug. 25-Oct. 3 among a random national sample of 1,951 adults, including 501 black and 500 Hispanic respondents. Results for the full sample have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points; for results based on African-Americans or Hispanics, it is plus or minus 6 percentage points.