Poll: Record high worry about race relations in America

A record number of Americans are worried about race relations, according to a Gallup poll released Friday.

Gallup found that 48 percent of respondents worry a great deal about U.S. race relations, up 17 points from just last year.

Gallup attributed the increase to last summer’s racial equality protests following the death of George Floyd in police custody.

Former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin is currently on trial on murder and manslaughter charges over Floyd’s death. Jury selection in the trial was completed on Tuesday.

Twenty-five percent of Americans said they worried a “fair amount about race relations,” while 16 percent said they worry only a little, Gallup found. Eleven percent said they were not worried at all.

Worries about race relations varied on party lines. Only 31 percent of Republican or Republican-leaning respondents said they worried a “great deal” about race relations, while 64 percent of Democrats or Democratic-leaning ones said the same.

Gallup’s findings came as part of its annual update on America’s concerns on a variety of national issues.

The survey found that 55 percent of Americans worry a great deal about hunger and homelessness — also a record high and up 8 points from last year — and 52 percent said they worry about the availability and affordability of health care.

It also found that 49 percent of Americans were worried about the economy, a 15-point increase from a year ago, toward the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.

Gallup surveyed 1,010 adults March 1-15. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.