Majority Of Americans View Races Relations As Poor, Poll Finds
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — After a week of protests around the country and in Los Angeles, demonstrators are demanding change at City Hall.
"If that means change of policy, if that means decriminalize, if that means stop occupying our communities, then you need to do it now," said Angela James, an organizer.
The protests started Tuesday after the Los Angeles Police Commission found officers acted within department policy when they shot and killed a 30-year-old
black woman last summer.
Black Lives Matter demonstrators asked for Mayor Eric Garcetti to fire LAPD Police Chief Charlie Beck.
Both leaders were in Washington D.C. Wednesday, meeting with President Obama on race relations.
In a poll conducted in the five days after the attack on Dallas police officers, CBS News found that 69 percent of Americans now view race relations as bad, one of the highest levels since the Los Angeles riots in 1992.
The poll also found that 41 percent of Americans agree with the Black Lives Matter movement, while 25 percent disagree, and 29 percent don't have an opinion.
"To think that the Los Angeles Police Department would treat citizens of Los Angeles the same way the majority white force did before Rodney King, after the court order, after the consent decree, just doesn't make sense. It just isn't true," said David Lehrer, the president of Community Advocates in Los Angeles.
While he says work still needs to be done, he echoes President Obama's message, that we aren't as divided as we seem.
"While people may be fairly negative about how race relations are globally, my notion is that's really a reflection of what they watch on news. When you asked them about what it is like in their community, they generally are rather positive," he said.
"President Obama lives in the White House," said James. "I live in Leimert Park."
The poll also found that most white Americans think their local police are doing a good job and make them feel safe. Most blacks rate their local police as
fair to poor and make them feel mostly anxious.
"Am I safe walking in my neighborhood," asked James. "Would you feel safe? I don't."
Garcetti spoke Wednesday by phone saying the meetings productive and he looks forward to returning to Los Angeles.
