New Poll Sees 7 Out of 10 Americans Rate Racial Tensions as a Major Issue

MOSCOW, January 22 (Sputnik) — Almost 70 percent of US citizens argue that lingering racial and ethnic tensions should be rated as a top priority challenge, a poll conducted by ICM Research exclusively for Sputnik news agency showed.

According to the survey, which was conducted last year, from December 5 to 17 among more than 1,000 Americans of various backgrounds, 67 percent of respondents agreed that issues of race and ethnicity still created tensions within society.

68 percent of Americans of both African and European ancestry said disagreements based on grounds of race, color or ethnic origin still matter and pose a major problem for the country, which has long praised itself on being a “melting pot” for peoples who flocked to the continent in search of greater freedom.

The poll revealed that US seniors experienced ethnic and racial tensions as more acute, while those in the 18-24 age bracket were less likely to agree about the importance of the issue.

Racism and discrimination on ethnic grounds in the United States came to the fore in nationwide debates following accusations of racial profiling against white US police officers who have been blamed for allegedly targeting people with ethnic backgrounds for stop-and-frisk searches.

The problem took on an entirely new dimension when white lawmen shot and killed several unarmed black people, including a teenager, in 2015.