Views on MLK’s legacy and progress on racial equality differ by race and party: poll

Americans’ views on racial progress and the legacy of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. differ greatly based on party and race, a new poll found. 

The poll, conducted by Pew Research Center earlier this month, found that 48 percent of Democratic-leaning voters said their views on racial equality have been influenced by King’s legacy, while 30 percent of Republican-leaning voters said the same. 

Conversely, 67 percent of Republican-leaning voters said the U.S. has made a “great deal or a fair amount” of progress in ensuring racial equality over the last 60 years. Only 38 percent of Democratic voters agreed. Most Democrats said these efforts haven’t gone far enough, while 37 percent of Republicans said these efforts have gone “too far.”

The poll comes ahead of the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. On Aug. 28, 1963, around 250,000 people filled the streets of Washington, D.C., to hear King’s seminal “I Have a Dream” speech. 

Today, 60 percent of Americans say they have heard or read about King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, according to Pew’s poll. Black adults were the most likely to say this, and Asian adults were least likely to.

Additionally, adults 65 and older and those with a bachelor’s degree were more likely than younger adults and those with less education to be “highly familiar” with the speech.

But the poll also found large disparities between white and Black Americans on whether enough has been done to achieve racial equality. 

While 83 percent of Black Americans said efforts to ensure equality for all haven’t gone far enough, only 44 percent of white adults said the same. Hispanic and Asian adults fell in the middle, with 58 percent of Hispanic adults agreeing, along with 55 percent of Asian Americans agreeing.  

With advocates set to recreate the march this weekend,  Pew found that 70 percent of Americans said marches and demonstrations that don’t disrupt everyday life are acceptable ways to protest racial inequality. 

Only 39 percent of Americans said sit-ins, one of the most common forms of nonviolent protest during the Civil Rights Movement, are an acceptable form of protest. 

Thirteen percent said activities that disrupt everyday life are acceptable forms of protest, and a measly 5 percent said demonstrations that result in damage to public or private property are acceptable.