Poll: Only 1 in 5 think race relations improving

President Obama has repeatedly insisted in recent days that race relations are improving during his tenure, but a new poll shows the American people aren’t convinced.

Just 1 in 5 Americans surveyed in a CBS News poll released Wednesday said they think race relations are improving in the U.S., while 36 percent says they’re getting worse. The percentage saying race relations are good has dropped 10 points since spring and is at its lowest point since the Clinton administration.

{mosads}That decline has undoubtedly been fueled by the recent controversy over grand jury decisions to not indict white police officers in Staten Island and Ferguson, Mo., after the killing of unarmed black men. The decisions sparked mass protests across the country.

Overall, 45 percent describes race relations are generally good, while 43 percent says they are bad. But a majority — 54 percent — of black respondents says race relations are bad.

In an interview Wednesday with Univision, Obama insisted “there has been improvement” on race relations during his presidency.

“If you look at the history of race in America, it’s usually not a single moment where everything gets solved — it’s a process,” the president said.

“I think that because of our policies, there’s more equality than when I came in,” he continued. “With respect to healthcare, with respect to access to college, with respect to opportunity. I think because of the work Eric Holder has done under my direction, I think the criminal justice system has improved.” 

Obama added that, when talking to members of his daughters’ generation, “their attitudes absolutely are better when it comes to race.”

Still, many Americans say race played a factor in the death of Eric Garner, the Staten Island man who died after being put in a chokehold by police officers. Just 14 percent of whites and only 3 percent of blacks says that use of force was justified. 

On Tuesday, Obama acknowledged the frustration in the aftermath of those decisions but said “the folks who say there’s not a lot of improvement, I don’t think were living in the ’50s and remembering what it was like to be black or Hispanic and interacting with police then.”

“They don’t even remember what it was like 20 years ago,” Obama said.

The president did say he was confident that things would “continue to improve,” and pointed to White House efforts to fund the purchase of body-worn cameras for police and improve law enforcement training. 

The CBS poll found such efforts held wide support with the American public.

A full 91 percent of Americans backs the use of mounted cameras by police, while 6 in 10 say police officers need better training to handle their interactions with civilians. A full 85 percent of blacks says additional training is necessary.