Poll: 75% of Black Americans Fear Being Physically Attacked Because of Race

A new poll found that 75 percent of Black Americans are worried that they or a loved one would be physically attacked because of their race.

The Washington Post-Ipsos poll, which surveyed 806 Black adults between May 18 and May 20 and was published on Saturday, revealed that 32 percent of Black Americans are "very worried" and 43 percent are "somewhat worried" about racially-motivated physical attacks. Meanwhile, only eight percent of respondents said that they are "not at all worried."

The poll results come a week after a mass shooting in a Buffalo, New York, grocery store that saw 10 Black people fatally shot. The shooting is being investigated as a hate crime in which the suspect, Payton Gendron, a white 18-year-old, targeted a predominantly Black neighborhood, according to authorities.

Gendron was later arraigned on a murder charge after the shooting. A manifesto that is believed to have been posted by the teen, featuring anti-immigrant and white supremacist views, surfaced online after the deadly incident.

In his manifesto, Gendron said that the shooting was inspired by a racist ideology known as the "Great Replacement" theory, which claims that white Americans are at risk of being replaced by people of color.

Last Saturday's mass shooting is viewed by Black Americans as a reflection to the broader issue of racism in the country, according to the new poll, which showed that 53 percent of Black Americans think that racism in the U.S. will get worse throughout their lifetimes. Only 10 percent think the problem will improve.

The survey also found that 27 percent of Black Americans think "half" of white people hold white supremacist beliefs, while 35 percent think "most" white people hold those beliefs. Eight percent of respondents, however, said "very few" of white Americans hold white supremacy beliefs.

Meanwhile, 75 percent of Black Americans said white supremacists are a "major threat," and 66 percent said white supremacy is a larger issue now compared to five years ago, according to the poll.

Respondents also named some factors that contribute to hate crimes across the country as 63 percent said that access to guns make a "great deal" of the problem. Meanwhile, 57 percent said hate crimes are attributed to "personal family and upbringing" and 52 percent said that social media plays a role.

The Post/Ipsos poll also found that respondents named other factors contributing to hate crimes, including the lack of teaching tolerance in schools, mental health issues, lack of personal connections to Black people or cable news, and "blaming Black people for their problems."

After the mass shooting, the organization March for Our Lives slammed the country's leaders for failing to take preventative action, saying that "our country should have done everything in its power long before today to prevent guns from getting into the wrong hands. Instead, U.S. gun worship empowers this white supremacist violence."