According to a new Washington Post-Ipsos poll published on Jan. 17, 2020, more than 8 in 10 black Americans believe that President Donald Trump is a racist. The poll also finds that black Americans believe the president has made racism a bigger issue in the country.
The poll, which was conducted Jan. 2 to Jan. 8, found former Vice President Joe Biden is currently black Democrats’ candidate of choice with the election 10 months away. Biden had the support of 48% of survey respondents, Bernie Sanders had 20% and Elizabeth Warren had 9%.
Nine in 10 blacks disapprove of the president’s job performance. Trump campaigns on having the lowest unemployment rate for black Americans in the history of the country, but 77% of respondents of the poll give him “only some” or “hardly any” credit for the 5.5% black unemployment rate.
“I don’t think [Trump] has anything to do with unemployment among African Americans,” said Ethel Smith, a 72-year-old nanny who lives in Lithonia, Georgia, told The Washington Post. “I’ve always been a working poor person. That’s just who I am.”
Sixty-five percent of blacks surveyed said they feel optimistic about their lives “all” or “most of the time” but another 65% say it’s a bad time to be black in America. Only 16% think that a black child born in the U.S. today has “a good opportunity to achieve a comfortable standard of living.”
Dana Clark, a black father of 11 in Ontario, California, tells all his children it’s possible to succeed in America.
“I tell them we’re going to set this plan up. Whatever you want to do you’re going to be able to do it,” he said. “But it ain’t going to be easy, especially if [you] want to make some money because you’re going to be in a world where they’re not going to expect you to be there. You can get what you want, but you’ve got to work harder, faster and stronger.”
