FILE - In this June 24, 2016 file photo, President Barack Obama speaks in Stanford, Calif. After almost eight years after electing a black president, a quarter of Americans say President Barack Obama made race relations in the United States worse during his time. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

WASHINGTON - Almost eight years after electing a black president, vast majorities of blacks and Hispanics think President Barack Obama at least tried to make race relations in the United States better, according to a poll released Monday.

But only about half of whites think Obama made race relations better or at least tried to make race relations better but failed. Almost a third of whites said the president "made race relations worse."

The Pew Research Center report also suggested there is still a stark difference in attitudes about race relations among racial and ethnic groups.

For example, whites were split on the status of race relations, with 46 per cent saying they are generally good overall and 45 per cent saying they are generally bad. But blacks were less optimistic, with 61 per cent saying that race relations are bad and 34 per cent saying that they are good.

Many people had hope that Obama's historic election would bring about better race relations, said Juliana Horowitz, a Pew associate director who helped craft the poll.

Sixty-two per cent of Americans said the president himself made race relations better or at least tried to make race relations better, but a full 25 per cent said he made things worse. The poll did not ask for specifics in how Obama made race relations better or worse.

Racial divisions can be clearly seen in the responses. Vast majorities of blacks and Hispanics — 85 per cent for blacks and 74 per cent for Republicans — said Obama had made race relations better or tried to make race relations better.

Only about half of whites — 52 per cent — said he made things better or tried to make things better but failed. But a full third, or 32 per cent, said the president has made things worse.

Other findings in the survey:

— A majority of blacks — 65 per cent — expressed support for the Black Lives Matter movement, with 41 per cent saying they strongly support it and 24 per cent saying they support it somewhat. About 1 in 10 blacks — 12 per cent — say they oppose the Black Lives Matter movement.

Among whites, 4 in 10 say they strongly or somewhat support the Black Lives Matter movement, with 14 per cent saying they strongly support it.

— A majority of African-Americans — 71 per cent — said they had personally experienced discrimination or been treated unfairly because of their race or ethnicity, with fewer than 1 in 10 saying it happens to them on a regular basis. Almost a third of white adults — 30 per cent — said they had been discriminated against because of their skin colour or ethnicity but only 2 per cent said it happens to them on a regular basis.

— Just under a third of whites — 30 per cent — say their race or ethnicity made it easier for them in life, while a majority said it didn't make a difference. Only 8 per cent of blacks said being black made things easier, with 40 per cent saying being African-American has make it harder for them to succeed at life. Almost half of blacks questioned said that being black made no difference in their overall success.

"Blacks and whites are deeply divided in their views of race relations, racial inequality and their perception of what life is like for black people in the U.S.," Horowitz said.

The findings are based on a national survey by the Pew Research Center conducted Feb. 29-May 8, by telephone among 3,769 adults (including 1,799 whites, 1,004 blacks and 654 Hispanics). Results for the survey have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.

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Jesse J. Holland covers race and ethnicity for The Associated Press. Contact him at jholland@ap.org, on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/jessejholland or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/jessejholland.

Errin Haines Whack contributed to this story from Philadelphia.

News from © The Associated Press, 2016