Racism Over? I don't think so

Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln

The hundreds of thousands that are filling up the mall in D.C. for the inauguration are not an indication of racism gone away, or diminished. It is still there. Its in the song the RNC made of Obama. That is big stuff, not a local level issue. Obama is there for many reasons. One of course, the guy is incredibly intelligent, articulate, wise and many other things. Plus he was pushed along by us having a president that was totally the opposite. But then, does that mean we are less racist?


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Far Fewer Consider Racism Big Problem
Little Change, However, at Local Level


By Michael A. Fletcher and Jon Cohen
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, January 19, 2009; Page A06

As President-elect Barack Obama prepares to take office, far fewer black and white Americans say they view racism as "a big problem" in American society than said so in mid-1996, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

With the nation poised to inaugurate its first African American president, the survey found that just over a quarter of all Americans said they see racism as a large societal problem, less than half of the 54 percent who said so about a dozen years ago. Americans also have high hopes that Obama -- who is of mixed-race parentage but refers to himself as African American -- will inspire an improvement in race relations.

But even as declining numbers of Americans see racism as a big problem for the country, there has been little change in the amount of racism people perceive in their local communities. The survey also found that there has been little change over the past six years in the proportion of African Americans who said they have experienced racial bias in housing, employment and other areas... more