A 2008 ABC News/Washington Post poll of 1,125 U.S. adults (including 201 African Americans) shows that many Americans think race relations are improving:

• When asked if they think race relations in the United States are excellent, good, not so good, or poor, 4 percent said excellent (up 2 percent from 16 years ago); 47 percent said good (up 17 percent); 36 percent said not so good (down from 45 percent); 12 percent said poor (down from 21 percent). The remaining 1 percent was unsure (down from 2 percent).
  

However, follow-up questions in the same poll indicated that many think there's plenty of room for improvement:

• When asked if they think African Americans that live in their community experience racial discrimination, 51 percent said yes, while 47 percent said no. Breaking those numbers down further: 54 percent of African Americans said yes, while 49 percent of whites said no.
  
  
• Though 69 percent said they did not have any feelings of racial prejudice, 30 percent admitted to hints of racism.