Blacks’ optimism at 25-year high, poll finds

Sun Sentinel

LAUDERHILL, Fla. — Tyson Jones, a former Lauderhill commissioner, has noticed the change in the attitudes of white people toward blacks.

“There’s more acceptance,” he said. “It’s on a one-on-one basis. Decisions about you aren’t being made about your hair, eyes, lips or color.”

For Jones, that alone is a reason for hope. But he is more excited about the election of a black president and what that bodes for the future of his children and grandchildren.

According to a survey on race released just in time for today’s celebration of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, he’s not alone:

African-Americans are more optimistic about the future than they have been in 25 years, according to the Pew Research Center.

The center, which studies American attitudes and trends, found that 39 percent of black Americans say they are more satisfied with their situation than two years ago. A majority of blacks (53 percent) believe life will get better, according to Pew.

Juan Williams, a National Public Radio analyst who was a consultant on the study, said he found the results “surprising.”

On the air, Williams said, “Twice as many blacks — 39 percent — now say the situation for black people in America is better than it’s been over the course of the last five years.

“That is twice what it was in terms of black optimism in a poll done just two years ago,” Williams said.

Karen Hargray, a Greenacres, Fla., resident, said her faith keeps her positive despite the bad economy and high unemployment.

“I don’t think things won’t get better, but it’s improving slowly,” she said. “President [Barack] Obama did not get into all of this himself. ... This is not ‘I Dream of Jeannie,’ you blink your eyes and, whoop, there it is.”

The optimism black Americans feel certainly has to do with the times. Blacks are no long legally barred from opportunities as they were when King was alive. Back then, the prospect of electing a black president was nonexistent. King never saw a black person even make the attempt.

The late U.S. Rep. Shirley Chisholm didn’t run for the Democratic Party nomination until 1972.

That was four years after King was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn., where he was attempting to work with striking garbage workers.