A new CBS News poll shows a really dramatic reversal of opinion among blacks over the last year on the subject of race relations. Check out the chart. About 65 percent of blacks regarded race relations as "bad" a year ago; now 65 percent think they're "good." Obviously this has everything to do with the symbolic power of America electing its first black president. November 4th made me feel good about race relations too.But look at the whites: the number of whites who feel negatively about the state of race relations rose pretty substantially over the last year as well. That's disturbing: are those people who think the election of a black president was a step in the wrong direction? I don't see what other factors could be responsible for that change.Also interesting: A new psychology study has shown that, when faced with hiring decisions, whites who planned to vote for Obama were more likely to favor whites. As the researchers said, "Our findings raise the possibility that the opportunity to vote for an African-American for President could have reduced some voters' concerns about appearing prejudiced, thereby ironically increasing the likelihood that they would favour Whites in subsequent decisions..."What do you think about the state of race relations?UPDATE: As a few helpful comments point out, I misread part of the chart. Apologies. The good news: there's not a growing minority of racially disgruntled white people.
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