Title: College-educated blacks more likely to have faced discrimination | Pew Research Center
Headings: For black Americans, experiences of racial discrimination vary by education level, gender
For black Americans, experiences of racial discrimination vary by education level, gender
Content: When asked about specific situations they may have experienced because of their race, blacks who have attended college are more likely than those without college experience to say they have faced a number of these incidents: people acting as if they were suspicious of them (71% vs. 59%), people acting as if they were not smart (67% vs. 52%) or being subjected to slurs or jokes (58% vs. 45%). Half of blacks with at least some college experience also say they have feared for their personal safety because of their race. That share drops to about a third (34%) among those with less education. College-educated blacks are also more inclined to believe their race has negatively impacted their ability to succeed: 57% of blacks with at least some college experience believe being black has hurt their ability to get ahead, compared with 47% of those with a high school education or less. This pattern has been consistent across multiple surveys. A 2016 Pew Research Center survey found similar educational gaps among blacks in experiences with discrimination. And a 2017 NPR poll found that being subjected to racial slurs or offensive comments was more common among blacks with a college degree than those with less education. So why is this?