Blacks More Optimistic Than Whites About the Economic Future

Blacks More Optimistic Than Whites About The Economic Future

Washington — Blacks are significantly more optimistic about what the future holds for them and the economy, according to a Washington Post/Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard University poll conducted Jan. 27 – Feb.9. There was also a significant divide in how whites and blacks rated President Obama’s economic policies, with whites taking a far dimmer view than blacks.

Blacks in the survey reported feeling less stress from the economic situation than whites or Hispanics. Fifty-six percent said the current economic situation has not been a cause of stress for them while 56 percent of whites and 58 percent of Hispanics says it has.

Whites had a distinctly more negative view of President Obama’s economic program than blacks or Hispanics. Eighteen percent of whites said Obama’s policies had improved the economy, 36 percent said they had made it worse, 39 percent said they had no effect and 6 percent offered no opinion.