---
"title": "Personal Factors Limit Black Progress"
"description": "Two in three Americans believe personal factors, rather than racial discrimination, explain why many African Americans have difficulty getting ahead in life."
"date": "2008-01-14"
"authors":
  -
    "name": "Pew Research Center"
"url": "https://alpha.pewresearch.org/pewresearch-org/short-reads/2008/01/14/personal-factors-limit-black-progress/"
"categories":
  - "Discrimination & Prejudice"
  - "Racial Bias & Discrimination"
---

# Personal Factors Limit Black Progress

Two-thirds of all Americans, including a narrow majority of blacks, now say that personal factors, rather than racial discrimination, explain why many African Americans have difficulty getting ahead in life; just 19% primarily blame discrimination. While clear differences exist between white and black views on this question, these racial disparities are significantly less pronounced than those observed in other areas covered by a Pew survey conducted in the fall of 2007, including questions that measured perceptions of the overall levels of discrimination faced by blacks. Overall, most whites (71%), Hispanics (59%) and a narrow majority of blacks (53%) believe that blacks who have not gotten ahead in life are mainly responsible for their own situation. At the same time, three-in-ten blacks (30%) blame racism for failures to advance, a view shared by 24% of all Hispanics and 15% of whites.[Read More](https://alpha.pewresearch.org/pewresearch-org/pubs/634/black-public-opinion)