Here’s a survey that should take a bite out of the persistent meme that blacks are the Angriest Americans. American Rage, a survey commissioned by NBC and Esquire magazine, showed that whites and Republicans are the angriest Americans.
In a response to the question “About how often do you hear or read something in the news that makes you angry?” 73 percent of whites said they get angry at least once a day, in contrast to 66 percent of Hispanics and 56 percent of blacks.
Seventy-seven percent of Republicans also said they get angry at least once a day, compared to 67 percent of Democrats. Fifty-two percent of Americans said the American Dream “once held true but does not anymore.” Thirty-nine percent think that race relations have become worse since President Obama was elected.
From Esquire:
Indeed, despite having what many would consider a more legitimate case for feeling angry, black Americans are generally less angry than whites. Though they take great issue with the way they are treated by both society in general and the police in particular, blacks are also more likely than whites to believe that the American dream is still alive.
There are some other seemingly contradictory findings about demographics and views of Black Americans:
– Blacks are more likely than whites and Hispanics to think that the American Dream still holds true.
– Blacks are more likely to think that the recent killings of African American men by police are part of a larger pattern in the police’s treatment of African Americans.
Read more about the methodology here.