Obama presidency falls short of hopes on racial issues

Americans are far less positive today about what Barack Obama's presidency means for the advancement of blacks in the U.S. than they were shortly after his election eight years ago, found a Gallup poll Thursday.

Currently, 32 percent of respondents say Obama's presidency is one of the most important advances for blacks in the past 100 years, a sharp drop from 71 percent immediately after he was elected and 58 percent nine months into his first term.

The poll comes at a time when racial tensions have soured due to a number of recent high profile killings of black men by white police officers, and the murder of eight white police officers by two black gunmen in the states of Louisiana and Texas in July.

Americans had high hopes for what the first black president could accomplish, particularly on matters of race. But now, Americans believe black-white relations are much worse now than earlier in his presidency, Gallup said.

The public may not necessarily fault Obama for those problems, as roughly half have consistently approved of how he has handled race relations throughout his time in office. But it is clear that the optimism Americans initially had for a black president's ability to improve race relations and the situation for blacks has long since faded, Gallup said.

The decline in perceived significance of Obama's election and presidency is evident among both blacks and whites, though blacks remain more positive overall...
   [inhua -china.org.cn]
14/8/16