US blacks confidence in police falls

A recent survey conducted by Gallup shows that the level of American urban blacks confidence in police of the United States has dropped.
The results are based on aggregated data from Gallup’s 2006 to 2014 annual updates on confidence in major US institutions. Over this time, an average of 57% of Americans have said they have ‘a great deal’ or ‘quite a lot’ of confidence in the police, placing it near the top of the list of institutions. This includes confidence ratings of 61% among whites and 57% among Hispanics, but just 34% among blacks.

The mistreatment of US police with blacks has a long history, however it was after the death of two black men by police actions recently that this wave of protests emerged.

The point is that the blacks living in highly urban areas have even less confidence in police than the ones living in non-urban areas. The survey represents the former as 26% and the latter 38%. This is likely because of high-profile events of police mistreatment have happened in these areas.

Interestingly, public’s political leanings also have affected their views about police. Republicans have significantly more confidence in the police than do Democrats or independents, and these political differences are apparent among white and nonwhite Americans. Race and politics interact such that nonwhite Democrats and independents have far less confidence in police than Republicans of any race, or than Democrats and independents who are white. Democrats’ tendency to view matters of race and racism as a greater priority for government may help explain these political differences.

This kind of tensions is not something new. The origin of such issues dates back to the early days of the United States establishment, the attitude and ideas of founding fathers, and the issue of slavery. Blacks have suffered from racial discrimination, segregation, social inequality and injustice throughout the American history. Although all these issues are considered remained in the past, the fact is that they are still affecting the ordinary life of the black Americans. Racial discrimination still exists in the United States.

In 2013, in his speech commemorating 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s American Dream speech, President Barack Obama admitted that the US still suffers racial and gender injustice. Meanwhile, in his current year address to the UN General Assembly, Obama described Ferguson events ‘a problem’ for the country.