I’ll admit it…I am more pessimistic today than I ever remember being.

Over the last several years, I have complained about what I see as a rolling-back of racial progress in the interest of right-wing political, economic and social agendas.  As a result, I find myself more and more concerned about the world my son is inheriting and whether or not he will find himself in a society in which outright racial hostility will be freely practiced with impunity.

I can’t speak for other folks about why they’re pessimistic, but a study by the Pew Research Center gives clues:

• By a ratio of 2 to 1, blacks say the values of poor and middle-class blacks have grown more different over the past decade (61 percent to 31 percent). Most blacks, 54 percent, say the values of blacks and whites have grown more alike during the same period.
• Most blacks believe racial discrimination is pervasive when applying for a job (67 percent), renting an apartment or buying a house (65 percent), eating at restaurants and shopping (50 percent) or applying to a college or university (43 percent). That’s compared with whites who, by majorities of 2-to-1 or more, said blacks rarely face bias in such situations.
• While saying prejudice is widespread, blacks were less likely to believe discrimination is the main reason they cannot get ahead. Fifty-three percent of blacks said they are mainly responsible for their situation, compared with 30 percent who blame it on racial discrimination. As recently as the mid-1990s, black opinion on this question tilted in the opposite direction.

Who knows, truly, why some of us are more pessimistic?  All I know is that America needs to pay attention to this before the pot boils over, yet again.

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