39% of Americans feel white and black people are treated equally by police, poll says

A new poll shows a stark partisan, racial and generational divide when Americans are asked if police treat white and black people equally.

The poll, conducted by CBS News and YouGov, shows the majority of Americans feel police do not treat white people and black people the same. It comes as thousands of people of all races are protesting and marching together following the deaths of George Floyd — a black man who died after a police officer in Minneapolis kneeled on his neck for more than 8 minutes — and Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery.

While 39% of respondents say police in most communities regard black people and white people equally, the answer differs tremendously by party affiliation. Just 17% of Democrats feel white and black people are treated the same, while 61% of Republicans believe police treat the races equally, according to the poll.

Furthermore, only 29% of Republicans say white people are regarded better than black people, poll results show. Eighty percent of Democrats say police treat white people better.

More than 2,000 United States residents were surveyed between May 29 and June for the poll, which has a 2.6% margin of error.

The poll also shows more than three-quarters of black people say police treat them worse compared to white people. A smaller majority of white Americans (52%) agreed that they received better treatment from law enforcement, according to the poll.

Opinions on the subject also differ by age, according to the poll. As Americans get older, they are more likely to believe whites and blacks are treated equally. Only 31% of Americans ages 18 to 29 say the two races are viewed the same by police, but that number jumps in each age group up to 45% for the 65+ population, according to the poll.

Results from the same poll also show only 32% of Americans approve of President Donald Trump’s response to the protests and events in Minneapolis. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s approval from his response is only slightly better at 33%.

The poll comes as a decreasing number of Americans say race relations in the country are “very good” or “somewhat good.” A Gallup historical poll found just 40% of black people said race relations in America are at least “somewhat good” in 2018 — a major decline from the 70% who said the same in 2001. Fifty-four percent of white people in 2018 described race relations positively, a dip from the all-time high of 75% who answered that way in 2007.

This story was originally published June 2, 2020 at 10:17 AM.