London — The outpouring of pent-up frustration about racism in the United Kingdom caught many White people by surprise.

Who did not think the country had made big strides towards tolerance and equal opportunity over the past few decades?

Who was concerned that statues of slave traders still stood in towns and cities across the union?

Who questioned whether Black Lives Matter in Britain?

The answer: Many, many Black people, whose views of race and racism in the UK are profoundly different from those of most White people, according to a sweeping and exclusive new CNN/Savanta ComRes poll.

Vast neolithic circle of deep shafts found near Stonehenge

Black people are at least twice as likely as White people to say there is discrimination in British policing and media; three times as likely to think the country has done far too little to address historic racial injustice; and significantly more likely to believe that the country’s governing Conservative Party is institutionally racist.

CNN and Savanta ComRes surveyed 1,535 British adults aged 18 and up online from June 12-14, including at least 500 Black and other ethnic minority respondents. The margin of error on the full sample is ± 2.5 percentage points.

 
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On policing, it’s not simply a matter of perceptions. Black and White people report significantly different personal experiences with law enforcement.

Black people are twice as likely as White people to say they personally have not been treated with respect by police, with half (49%) of Black people and a quarter (26%) of White people indicating that experience.

Black people are also twice as likely to say a friend or family member has not been treated with respect by police: Six in 10 (59%) Black people said so, compared to three in 10 (31%) White people.

Source: Most Black people think Britain is racist place to live; most White people don’t

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