July 31, 2025
Perceptions of discrimination in the United States have shifted in recent years. Four in 10 say Black people and Hispanic people face “quite a bit” or “a great deal” of discrimination, 3 in 10 say the same regarding Asian people, and 1 in 10 say it about white people.
The number of people saying Asian people and Black people are experiencing a substantial amount of discrimination has dropped since an AP-NORC poll conducted in April 2021.
In 2021, 46% said Asian Americans faced a considerable amount of discrimination in the United States. At the time, many were concerned about incidents of violence against Asian Americans as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
The 2021 poll was conducted nearly a year after the death of George Floyd, when there were still protests against racial inequality in the United States. At the time, 61% said there was a great deal or quite a bit of discrimination against Black Americans.
Seventy-four percent of Black people say their community experiences a great deal or quite a bit of discrimination. Forty-five perent of Hispanic people and 39% of white people agree that Black people experience a great deal or quite a bit of discrimination.
Black people and Hispanic people are equally likely to think there is substantial prejudice against Hispanic people. Sixty-one percent of both Black people and Hispanic people say there is a great deal or quite a bit of discrimination against Hispanic people. Only 36% of white people agree.
While few say white people face discrimination, white people are three times as likely as Black people to think white people experience discrimination (18% v. 6%).
Looking at religious discrimination in the United States these days, half of the public say Muslim people in the country experience substantial discrimination. Approximately one third say the same about Jewish people.
Most people, 58%, think immigrants without legal status also face discrimination — the highest amount of any identity group. Four in 10 say immigrants living legally in the United States also face this level of discrimination.
While most agree that many groups are unfairly treated at least sometimes, there is some skepticism that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs are effective at mitigating discrimination. Many say DEI programs do not make a difference and roughly 3 in 10 think DEI initiatives increase discrimination against most racial and ethnic groups including white people. About a third feel DEI efforts are reducing discrimination against women, Hispanic people, and Asian people while 4 in 10 say the same about Black people.
The nationwide poll was conducted July 10-14, 2025 using the AmeriSpeak® Panel, the probability-based panel of NORC at the University of Chicago. Online and telephone interviews using landlines and cell phones were conducted with 1,437 adults. The overall margin of sampling error is +/- 3.6 percentage points. Respondents age 18-29 were sampled at a higher rate than their proportion of the population for reasons of analysis. The overall margin of sampling error for the 386 interviews completed with respondents age 18-29 is +/- 6.6 percentage points.
- Suggested Citation: AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. “The public is skeptical about the effectiveness of DEI initiatives.” (July 2025). https://apnorc.org/projects/the-public-is-skeptical-about-the-effectiveness-of-dei-initiatives/
