SOCIETY US ready for black president

A comprehensive survey of racial attitudes in the United States has found that the vast majority of white Americans would now be prepared, for the first time, to vote for a black president. It even suggests that whites would be slightly more willing (93 per cent against 91 per cent) to vote for a "suitably qualified" black than would blacks themselves.

The proportion of whites saying that they would be willing to elect a black to the White House has doubled in the past 30 years and is up from 77 per cent 10 years ago. Black opinion has remained stable over the same period.

This change, which is attributed in part to the emergence - in General Colin Powell (right) - of a black politician who appeals across racial lines is the most positive finding in a wide-ranging poll of racial attitudes conducted by Gallup.

Mary Dejevsky