US Blacks More Negative About Gov't Than Whites,Survey Shows

With the US government shifted from Democrats to Republicans, black Americans have become much more negative about the general way things are going in the United States, as well as about the president, Congress and the Supreme Court, according to a survey released by Gallup Tuesday.

The survey showed that blacks give President George W. Bush much lower ratings than whites. During July-December 2000, 57 percent of whites and 89 percent of blacks respectively approved the way President Bill Clinton was handling his job as president. This year, President George W. Bush gets the approval of 61 percent of whites and 37 percent of blacks.

Blacks were roughly equal with whites in their ratings of Congress and the Supreme Court last fall. While this year, blacks are significantly more negative about both institutions.

During August-December 2000, 51 percent of whites and 54 percent of blacks were satisfied with Congress's performance, compared with 53 percent of whites and 43 percent of blacks this year.

During August-September 2000, the Supreme Court got the approval of 51 percent of whites and 54 percent of blacks, compared with 63 percent of whites and 51 percent of blacks this year.

During July-December 2000, 59 percent of whites and 60 percent of blacks were respectively satisfied with the way things were going on in the U.S. While this year, only 52 percent of whites and 33 percent of blacks felt satisfied.

These results are based on telephone interviews with randomly selected national samples of at least 1,000 adults, 18 years and older, conducted in 2000 and 2001.

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