New findings in a poll released by CNN and the Kaiser Family Foundation show that 49 percent of Americans believe racism is “a big problem.” That figure is up from 2011, when just over 25 percent described racism that way. In 1995, 41 percent of Americans called racism a major concern.
The survey follows a series of high-profile deaths of unarmed black males in Staten Island; Baltimore; Ferguson, Missouri; and other locales, during encounters with law enforcement — episodes sometimes caught on cellphone videos. In recent weeks, black college students have held protests across the country to redress grievances that have included feelings of alienation, threats and their schools’ past ties to segregation and even slavery.
