Sweeping national study finds African Americans in U.S. diverse, optimistic - USATODAY.com: The digital divide between blacks and whites is fast disappearing. The hip-hop generation, often portrayed as rebellious, has tremendous respect for its elders. Prejudice persists, but most blacks are optimistic about their future.
Those are among the findings of one of the largest surveys ever taken of black Americans and to be released Friday.
The national study, taken by Yankelovich and commissioned by Radio One, offers a detailed glimpse of the varied expectations, life circumstances and interests of the nation's 39 million African Americans.
"There's a difference (between) articulating that we're not a monolithic community and quantifying it," says Catherine Hughes, founder and board chairwoman of Radio One, the largest radio broadcasting company in the U.S. primarily targeting African Americans. "We really needed to take a snapshot of the black community with all of its textures and nuances and debunk the myth. … We wanted to quantify and qualify the incredible diversity in our community."
Other findings:
• 68% of those surveyed use the Internet. By contrast, a study by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press found that, as of December, 70% of all Americans ages 18 and older — and 72% of non-Hispanic whites — were online.
• Blacks are nearly evenly divided about what they prefer to be called — 42% favor "black" and 44% favor "African American."
• 88% of respondents — and 84% of teenagers — have tremendous respect for the opinions and desires of their elders.
• 24% say they had experienced bigotry personally within the past three months, and 82% believe it is "important for parents to prepare their children for prejudice."
• Many still deeply mistrust police, courts, government and mainstream media.
• 60% say "things are getting better for me," while more than half are positive about the future of the black community.
