Poll: 49% say racism ‘big problem’

About half of Americans, 49 percent, say that racism is “a big problem,” according to a new national poll conducted by CNN and the Kaiser Family Foundation . A third of Americans, 33 percent, described racism as “somewhat of a problem” in society, while 9 percent said it is “a small problem” and 7 percent said it is “not a problem at all.” The percentage who describe racism as “a big problem” has surged 21 points since 2011, when it stood at 28 percent, according to CNN. It’s now above the 41 percent seen in 1995 after the O.J. Simpson trial. The topic of race ticked upward last year following a series of fatal shootings of black men by white police officers, and it was the focal point surrounding this year’s Charleston, S.C., church massacre/ The Hill . More here.