Inside from the Inside

A recent NY Times article described interviews with a number of largely male black professionals who said that their relationships with white co-workers had improved since Obama’s election. The subtext of most accounts was white people are being nicer to us(my words). What a concept. So I decided to do a survey. Before you read further answer this question- If zero is slavery and ten is some time in the future when no one in this country experiences racism, where are we now? And what was that number pre Obama.I asked twenty people, equal black and white, men and women.  The average black answers were 5 now, 4.28 before. The white 5.7 now, 4.67 before. But four blacks said the number had not moved, only one white. But the most surprising  for me how close the numbers were between blac and white. I had thought the difference would be greater.  Are we closer than we think we are? Not statistically significant, but interesting.