U.S. Democratic
presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama talks at a rally in
Columbia, South Carolina, January 20, 2008.
More Americans than ever before are ready for a
black president in the country, according to a poll released on
Monday.
The poll by CNN and Opinion Research Corp. from January 14 to 17
shows that 72 percent of white Americans and 61 percent of black
Americans said the nation is ready for a black president, compared
to 65 percent of whites and 54 percent of blacks surveyed in
2006.
The poll that interviewed 743 whites and 513 blacks was released
as Americans honor Martin Luther King's Day, the third Monday in
January, and Democratic presidential candidates' campaign heat up
in South Carolina before the state holds its Democratic primary on
January 26, where a large number of black voters are seen to play
decisive role.
Democratic presidential
candidate Senator Barack Obama reacts as he holds a baby at a rally
in Columbia, South Carolina, January 20, 2008.
The black civil rights leader and Nobel winner, who is famous
for his "I have a dream" speech, advocated peaceful resistance and
equality for people of all races. He was assassinated on April 4,
1968, at 39 while standing on the balcony of a motel in Memphis,
Tennessee.
Four decades later, about 52 percent of black Americans and 43
percent white Americans said they believe that race relations will
always be problem in the United States, according to the poll.
When asked the same question in 1993, 55 percent of blacks and
53 percent of whites held such a view.
The poll also found that the top six concerns for both the
whites and blacks when they choose a presidential candidate are
listed orderly as economy, Iraq, terrorism, health care, gas prices
and Iran.
(Xinhua News Agency January 22, 2008)
