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Social Well-Being
KEY FINDINGS:
This survey was conducted in Spring 2015, a time during which there were several national
events focusing on race relations in the country. Because of this, the 2015 Sangamon
County Citizen Survey asked residents their attitudes towards race relations in the area.
Overall, 64% of residents report race relations are either “very good” (6%) or “fairly good”
(58%). This is considerably higher than a national poll1 which found that only 39% of U.S.
residents report that race relations are “generally good.”
The largest percentage of respondents to report race relations as very good are the ages
55-64 (29.4%) while younger respondents (25-34 year olds) are more likely to report race
relations as “very bad” (40%).
Sixty-five percent of white respondents report race relations are good compared to 60%
of African-American respondents.
Thanks to the Survey Research Office staff and students who helped collect and analyze the data (some
pictured above).
1
According to a New York Times/CBS News poll. Data available at
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/05/05/us/05poll-doc.html.