--- description: Perception has been on the decline since the 2013 acquittal of George Zimmerman title: U.S. Race Relations at 20-Year Low, Survey Finds image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt37fbe6dfd0230f0b/698875c25f570f7deab1ede1/laquan-mcdonald-protest.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Race](/tag/race/) ## Race Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # U.S. Race Relations at 20-Year Low, Survey Finds by [Daniel White](/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 16, 2015 11:08 PM CUT  A demonstrator protesting the shooting of Laquan McDonald on Nov. 27, 2015 in Chicago. A demonstrator protesting the shooting of Laquan McDonald on Nov. 27, 2015 in Chicago.Joshua Lott—Getty Images by [Daniel White](/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 16, 2015 11:08 PM CUT Perception of U.S. race relations [have reached a 20 year low](http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2015/12/16/americans-view-of-race-relations-at-two-decade-low-wsjnbc-news-poll/tab/print/ "undefined") after several high-profile deaths of black Americans at the hands of police officers, according to data from a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll. Only 34% of Americans said race relations in the country are fairly good or very good, the lowest since October 1995, shortly after the O.J. Simpson trial [concluded in an acquittal](http://time.com/vault/issue/1995-10-16/page/1/ "undefined") for the former football star. The inauguration of Barack Obama as the country’s first black president saw Americans’ view of race relations reach a high of 77% in January 2009\. However, the _Wall Street Journal_ notes, there has been a precipitous decline in Americans’ perceptions of race relations since July 2013, when George Zimmerman being acquitted of shooting and killing Trayvon Martin—and that dim view of relations is shared across racial lines. Just 33% of whites and 38% of Hispanics view race relations as very or fairly good, with only 26% of African Americans saying the same. The WSJ/NBC poll surveyed 1,000 adults and was conducted Dec. 6-9 with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 points. \[[WSJ](http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2015/12/16/americans-view-of-race-relations-at-two-decade-low-wsjnbc-news-poll/tab/print/ "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4152668/us-race-relations-20-year-low/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4152668/us-race-relations-20-year-low/"},"headline":"U.S. Race Relations at 20-Year Low, Survey Finds","datePublished":"2015-12-16T23:08:51.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T13:27:08.048Z","description":"They're the worst since the O.J. Simpson trial ended in an acquittal","url":"https://time.com/4152668/us-race-relations-20-year-low/","keywords":["Race","People"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt37fbe6dfd0230f0b/698875c25f570f7deab1ede1/laquan-mcdonald-protest.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel White","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-white/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt37fbe6dfd0230f0b/698875c25f570f7deab1ede1/laquan-mcdonald-protest.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Protests Continue On Chicago After Release Of Video Of Police Fatally Shooting Teen","caption":"Protests Continue On Chicago After Release Of Video Of Police Fatally Shooting Teen","creditText":"Joshua Lott—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/race/","name":"Race"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4152668/us-race-relations-20-year-low/","name":"U.S. Race Relations at 20-Year Low, Survey Finds"}}]}] ```