Obama Says America Has Made 'Progress' on Reducing Racism; Poll Shows Most Americans Believe Race Relations Have Worsened Under Him

While President Barack Obama declared that America has made "progress" over the years on reducing racism, a just-released poll indicates that most Americans believe race relations have deteriorated during Obama's presidency.

Image source: BET

In an interview with BET, the president described his conversation with a group of young civil rights activists, including a leader of protests in Ferguson, Missouri, he hosted last week in the Oval Office.

"We can't equate what is happening now to what was happening 50 years ago," Obama said, "and if you talk to your parents, grandparents, uncles, they'll tell you that things are better, not good in some places, but better."

"We have made progress," he said, according to a preview of the interview with BET.

Still Obama noted that racism and bias "is something that is deeply rooted in our society, it's deeply rooted in our history," according to the preview. The full interview will be broadcast Monday.

Interestingly, a Bloomberg Politics poll published Sunday asked participants, "Do you think race relations have gotten better, gotten worse, or stayed about the same under the first black president?"

The result: 53 percent said race relations have gotten worse.

Here's a snippet from the BET interview:

The Associated Press contributed to this story.