Survey: Majority Believe Race Relations In Detroit Have Improved Since 1967 Riots
DETROIT (WWJ) - A new survey released this morning shows most people in Metro Detroit think progress has been made on racial attitudes since the 1967 riots.
The information gathered by EPIC-MRA for the Detroit Journalism Cooperative also shows there is optimism for more progress in the future.
"This survey provides us insight on where the climate of Metro Detroit stands today on matters of race and other community priorities," Scott McCartney, the Cooperative's Regional Editor, said in a statement. "As part of our reporting, this information sheds light on the attitudes and opinions that impact how this region views many of the issues currently dominating the national dialogue."
Among the results, roughly 1-in-3 black metro Detroiters say they have been unfairly targeted by police based on their skin color in just the past year. But McCartney said that number is actually promising.
"We found out that the people in and around the Detroit area, race relations are a little bit better here than in the rest of the country," he said.
In fact, when compared to other issues in Detroit, race did not come out on top.
"On a whole, there are more pressing issues facing the city, such as education," said McCartney. "Race relations fall kind of fourth or fifth in that line. That was a little bit surprising to us."
Click here to see the survey results by neighborhood
Click here to see the survey results by race
Next year marks 50 years since the 1967 race riots that devastated parts of the city and hastened the exodus of many white residents from Detroit.
[PHOTOS: Looking Back — 1967 Riots, Unrest In Detroit]
Tensions over lack of housing for blacks and open animosity with the mostly white police department erupted following a July 23, 1967 raid on an after-hours club. A standoff grew into rioting and looting that enveloped 25 city blocks for days and claimed 43 lives.
The survey of 600 Metro Detroit residents of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb Counties, consisted of interviews this summer via landline and mobile phones by Lansing polling firm EPIC-MRA and funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
