Nearly 70 percent of people questioned in the latest Voice of the Voter poll believe race relations between blacks and whites in Rochester and Monroe County are "only fair" or "poor".
Those sentiments were more common among Democrats (73.3 %) than Republicans (54.3 %) and more women (78.6 %) than men (59 %). More white residents (68.9 %) than black residents (61.9 %) categorized race relations as “only fair” or “poor.”
James Lawrence, editor of the Editorial Page at the Democrat and Chronicle, which is involved in the UNITE Rochester campaign, said he has noticed over the past two years that there is a growing sensitivity to racial issues in our community.
"I still do get letters and phone calls, emails, negative comments on-line, where they think we may be overdoing this, and 'Just leave things alone,' Lawrence said. “But, overall, I think the community is starting to feel more comfortable talking about racial issues."
Lawrence said many other communities around the country are just now coming to grips with the idea that we have a race problem in the U.S.
