Nearly 40% of voters say that race relations have gotten worse since Obama became president

African-American voters were especially optimistic on the cusp of the Obama presidency - 59% expected race relations to get better. Now, just 19% of black voters feel that the country has made progress on this front, while 43% say that things have gotten worse. A majority of Latinos were also optimistic about race relations six years ago, but only 21% feel that way now. Just under half - 44% - of white voters felt that race relations were likely to improve on the day Obama was first elected. Now, just 20% think race relations have improved. Just 1-in-5 U.S. voters see progress – 20% say that race relations have improved, while nearly twice as many - 38% - say that things have gotten worse. Another 40% see pretty much no change.