Rodney King's famous question "Can't we all get along?" after his caught-on-tape ruthless beating by Los Angeles police officers sparked devastating citywide race riots in the early 1990s rings as true as ever today.

Why do whites and blacks view race relations differently? Although race relations have improved in some respects, tough economic times and a xenophobia-fueled immigration debate have tempered progress. The good news is that with education, race relations improve, a new Pew Research Center study shows. Telephone interviews were conducted with 3,086 adults. Click here to read the press release or download the complete report.

In 2006, blacks' average income was 61 percent that of whites, down from 62 percent in 1997. Economic inequality accounts for some but not all of black/white perception differences. (See also: Is Black Income Declining? Our Baloney Meter Checks It Out)

Here are five of the key areas highlighted in the Pew report and top-line findings:

·         Race relations--better or worse? Whites' opinion of blacks has increased marginally while blacks' impression of whites has remained virtually unchanged since 1990. Today, 82 percent of whites and 79 percent of Latinos view blacks as very/mostly favorable. On whites, 80 percent of blacks and 79 percent of Latinos have this opinion. The Asian-respondent population was too small to analyze their ratings of other racial/ethnic groups, but whites are more likely (80 percent) than blacks (73 percent) or Latinos (74 percent) to view them in this light.

·         Affirmative action: Blacks are more likely to support affirmative action (89 percent) than whites or Latinos (52 percent and 77 percent, respectively), although support for these programs declines when "racial preferences" are mentioned--a language-distortion technique affirmative-action foes use to advance their agenda. Support among blacks, whites and Latinos drops to 78 percent, 39 percent and 61 percent, respectively, when that term is used. In addition, 83 percent of whites say that affirmative action for people of color has had no impact on them; 2 percent say they've benefited from these programs. (See also: Affirmative Action 'Saved My Life' (And I'm White) to learn why.)

·         Hip hop and rap--good or bad influence? Whites, blacks and Latinos are all more likely to consider rap a worse influence on society than hip hop, although the reasons for this vary along racial/ethnic and gender lines, with black women finding rap to be a bad influence because of the degrading stereotypes about women and whites being more concerned about offensive language.

·         Community life: Only 36 percent of blacks say they are very satisfied with the communities in which they live compared with 63 percent of whites and 56 percent of Latinos. Blacks are more likely to express discontent with their communities than other racial/ethnic groups regardless of income or education--58 percent say the lack of good jobs is a very big/big problem, followed by 50 percent who say this about unwed mothers. Whites are most concerned about undocumented immigration.

·         School integration--does it matter? Sixty-two percent of blacks would like to see more neighborhood integration compared with 40 percent of whites and 50 percent of Latinos. Despite the support for integrated neighborhoods, only 23 percent and 44 percent of whites and Latinos, respectively, think it's more important for students to attend racially/ethnically diverse schools, even if they don't live nearby, than to attend schools in their local communities. This is problematic considering school segregation is at a 40-year high.

Is Discrimination a Problem?

Nearly a third of blacks say racial discrimination is the main reason many blacks can't get ahead, compared with 15 percent of whites and 24 percent of Latinos. By contrast, 53 percent of blacks say those who struggle are "responsible for their own condition," compared with 71 percent of whites and 59 percent of Latinos.  

While blacks increasingly subscribe to the Bill Cosby pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps ideology, many, particularly middle-aged and educated blacks, still perceive discrimination to be a significant barrier in education, the workplace and the marketplace.

Here's who says that blacks experience discrimination in these situations:

• Applying for a job: 67 percent of blacks, compared with 20 percent of whites and 36 percent of Latinos.
• Buying/renting apartments and homes: 65 percent of blacks, compared with 27 percent of whites and 36 percent of Latinos. Subprime-lending data proves blacks and Latinos are disproportionately targeted for high-risk loans.  
• Out to eat, retail shopping: 50 percent of blacks compared with only 12 percent and 29 percent of whites and Latinos, respectively. (See also: Part I: Shopping While Black: One Serious Buyer's Customer-Service Nightmare)
• Applying to colleges or universities: 43 percent of blacks, compared with 7 percent of whites and 22 percent of Latinos.  

(See also: Is Giuliani a Racist? Why Blacks and Whites View Him Differently)

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