From Rasmussen Reports:

The president was asked about the arrest of a prominent African-America professor at Harvard and the professor’s subsequent complaint of racial profiling. While admitting he did not know all the details and acknowledging that the professor was a personal friend, the president said the police acted “stupidly” when they arrested Henry Louis Gates.

Beneath the top line numbers is a huge gap between the way that white and black Americans view the situation.

Seventy-one percent (71%) of African-Americans say the president’s response was good or excellent, a view shared by just 22% of white Americans.

At the other extreme, 53% of white voters gave the president’s response a poor grade. Only five percent (5%) of black Americans offered such a negative response.

African-Americans, by a two-to-one margin, say the question was inappropriate. Whites are fairly evenly divided on the appropriateness of the question.

Seventy-three percent (73%) of African-American voters believe that most blacks receive unfair treatment from the police. Just 21% of white voters share that view.

Thirty-two percent (32%) of black voters say that most policemen are racist, but 52% disagree.
Among white voters, just seven percent (7%) believe that most policemen are racist and 71% say they are not.

On a partisan basis, 50% of Democrats say the president’s response was good or excellent. White Democrats are less supportive than black Democrats. The president’s response earned a poor rating from 77% of Republicans and 52% of those not affiliated with either major party.

Liberals, by a two-to-one margin believe that most African-Americans are treated unfairly by the police. A solid plurality of unaffiliateds and a majority of Republicans disagree.

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