Many say U.S. race relations have improved under Obama, but divides remain

[alp227]

by Michael A. Fletcher and Krissah Thompson
January 13, 2010, The Washington Post

President Obama has ignited a surge of optimism among African Americans as they assess race relations and their prospects for the future, but the hope for reconciliation that accompanied the election of the nation's first black president remains far off.

The first year of Obama's presidency has brought the country face to face with troubling racial schisms just as often as it has promoted racial understanding.

In some ways, Obama has become a mirror for every American's racial attitudes -- reflecting perceptions, stereotypes, fears, hopes and the nation's complicated racial history. In a report released by the Pew Research Center on Tuesday, blacks, whites and Hispanics showed an inclination to racially identify him from their own vantage point.

A majority of the African Americans who responded to the Pew survey said they believe Obama's election has improved race relations, though that number has shrunk since the heady days just after the election. Thirty-two percent of whites and 42 percent of Hispanics think relations have improved since then.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/12/AR2010011203661_pf.html|

[FrenchieCat]

1. Yeah...divide remains.....

and is letting us know who the racists are.
That's not a bad thing, considering that before,
the whole thing was just simply swept under the carpet.
Progress can be painful, but it will get us to our destination
at some point.

[Clio the Leo]

2. Reading TeaBaggerNation.com tells the tale...

.... (and obviously the name of the site isn't really teabaggernation.com )

.... but there are SO many posts entitled "I am a TRADITIONAL American!" .... now, I'm not exactly sure what that means .... I'm rather fond of modern architecture and design myself :) but I think it MAY mean "there's c*l*red folks in the white house! ahhhhh!"