Americans' perceptions of the current state of race relations are more negative than at any time since Gallup started asking the question in 2001.
Why it matters: It comes during a summer of mass protests about racial injustice following a series of violent incidents against unarmed Black Americans by police officers.
By the numbers: About 55% of adults say relations between white and Black Americans are very (24%) or somewhat bad (31%), compared to 44% who say they are very (7%) or somewhat (37%) good.
- It's a significant decrease from 2001 through 2013, when the percentage of people who said race relations were good to any degree ranged from 63% to 72%.
- The drop-off began around 2015, after a series of high-profile police killings of Black Americans.
Worth noting: The poll was taken before the most recent wave of protests following the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha.
Methodology: The Gallup telephone poll was conducted from June 8 to July 24. It surveyed 1,226 U.S. adults. The margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
