The Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial site,
which is currently under construction, is seen
through a mesh barrier during a tour for the
media in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 13, 2011.
Americans are no more convinced than before
Barack Obama was elected as the first black
president that the country is closer to achieving
Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream of racial equality, a
poll shows.
Seventy-seven percent of people interviewed in
an AP-GfK poll say there has been significant
progress toward King's dream, about the same
as the 75 percent who felt that way in 2006,
before Obama was elected. Just over one in five,
22 percent, say they feel there has been "no
significant progress" toward that dream.
"The exuberance and thrill of seeing an African
American elected to the presidency has been
tempered by the outrageous claims that we've
heard about him," said William Jelani Cobb, a
history professor at Rutgers University.
Real concerns that King fought for remain, even
with a black president, he said.
"And the violent rhetoric we've seen directed
towards (Obama) diminishes the initial sentiment
that we've made great progress because of the
election," he said.
The poll also reveals that more people plan to
celebrate Monday's federal holiday honoring King
— 30 percent, compared to 23 percent who had
such plans five years ago. That includes 46
percent of non-whites, 38 percent of college
graduates, 36 percent who live in urban areas
and 36 percent who attend religious services at
least weekly, according to the poll.
Some communities in the South, including
around Atlanta, where schools have been closed
because of a snow and ice storm, have decided
to make up one of the days on MLK Day,
upsetting some African-American groups.
In 1994, Congress added community service as a
focus of the federal holiday, which marks its 25th
anniversary this year. More than one million
Americans are expected to participate in 13,000
projects around the country on the King Day of
Service, said Patrick Corvington, head of the
Corporation for National and Community Service,
the federal agency charged with administering
service projects on the King holiday.
"The focus on service has allowed for a different
kind of conversation about Dr. King and what he
was about," Corvington said. "It allows all people
to connect with Dr. King in different ways."
The new poll also shows most of the nation in
support of the King holiday. Three-quarters of
those surveyed this year say King's birthday
should be so honored, with 84 percent of non-
white respondents believing so, compared to 68
percent of white respondents. Younger adults are
also more apt to feel the birthday deserves the
honor, as 81 percent among those under 50
years old supported the holiday, compared to 66
percent among those 50 to 64 and 62 percent
among seniors.
The civil rights icon, who would have turned 82
on Saturday, is the only American who was not a
U.S. president honored with a federal holiday.
The AP-GfK Poll was conducted January 5-10,
2010 by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Corporate
Communications. It involved landline and cell
phone interviews with 1,001 adults nationwide,
and has a margin of sampling error of plus or
minus 4.2 percentage points.
Source: Http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=12614254
0 comments:
Post a Comment