A new survey by the non-partisan Pew Research Center reveals nearly six in 10 Americans believe race relations in the country are bad, and 56% think President Donald Trump has made them worse.

Some experts on the subject and community leaders are nodding in assent.

The study, released Tuesday, supports critics’ belief that Trump’s stance on matters of race – whether his reluctance to condemn marchers at a deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, or his rhetoric tinged with discriminatory statements – has only emboldened bigots and made life harder for non-whites.

About two-thirds of the respondents said it’s more common for those with racist or racially insensitive views to express them than before Trump was elected, and 45% said it has become more acceptable to do so.

The reaction to the survey results?

“Yeah, this is about right,’’ said Terri Jett, associate professor of political science at Butler University in Indianapolis. “It’s predictable based on the tenor and the climate of the country that everybody can feel. Nothing is surprising, especially what they say about the effect of President Trump on the racial divisions.’’

Jett, who is African American, said the topic has been widely discussed among her fellow academics and in her social circles, and it has prompted her to be more mindful of her surroundings, especially when traveling to unfamiliar cities.

In a recent conversation with organizers of a speakers bureau she belongs to, Jett took the rare step of inquiring about safety.

“My everyday walk makes me very aware of the racial tensions that exist,’’ Jett said, “and a lot of it is centered around some of the things that are happening on the national level at the direction of the president.’’

The Pew survey, based on a nationally representative sample of 6,637 adults, was conducted online Jan. 22-Feb. 5 in English and Spanish.

While Jett said the poll at least raises awareness of racial disparity, it revealed skepticism among blacks about the likelihood they would achieve equal rights with whites – 50% considered it unlikely.

The study also indicated the majority of blacks (76%), Asians (75%) and Hispanics (58%) believe they have experienced discrimination or been treated unfairly because of their race or ethnicity. Only 33% of whites said they have.

Kenneth Nunn, a law professor and race relations expert at the University of Florida, noticed a downcast mood among non-white respondents.

“It seems to me there is a great degree of pessimism in terms of the ability of people from minority groups being able to claim a share of the American dream today,’’ Nunn said. “People are frustrated. People do not think the country is fair. So it will be interesting to see whether there will be political or social responses to that perception.’’

Nunn believes Trump has expressed racism “in very straightforward terms; he hasn’t really tried to hide it at all,’’ and he said all the studies he has seen indicate racial incidents have increased because of that. But Nunn is not ready to say the country as a whole has gone backward when it comes to race relations.

Related:Race in admissions: White House gets Texas Tech med school to stem affirmative action

More:Neo-Nazi pleads guilty to federal hate crimes in Charlottesville murder of Heather Heyer

Respondents to the poll did take that leap, with blacks (71%) holding a more negative view of the current state of relations than Hispanics (60%) or whites (56%). In addition, 59% percent of those polled said being white helps when it comes to getting ahead in the U.S., with at least 56% of all four major ethnic groups saying as much.

That helps explain why so few of the white adults surveyed said their relatives talked to them while growing up about challenges they might face because of their race, with a mere 9% indicating that. By contrast, 64% of African Americans heard “the talk’’ from their families, along with 42% of Asians and 35% of Hispanics.

The discrepancy was jarring to Les Simmons, pastor of a multiethnic church in California called the South Sacramento Christian Center.

“What struck me was that 91 percent of whites never had to talk about race and culture in a way that relates to them being hindered by their race,’’ Simmons said. “That’s a huge number that says they have not had the same issues as black folks.’’

Simmons has been involved in activities to remember Stephon Clark, the unarmed black man gunned down by Sacramento police during a vandalism call in March 2018, and in the push for a law to raise the legal standard for justifiable use of deadly force by police.

Rather than engaging in more confrontations with law-enforcement agents, whom he believes have been “inflamed’’ by Trump’s rise to power, Simmons says communities of color need to mobilize and make their voices heard to avoid being left behind.

“We have to not accept the narrative that it’s just the way it is,’’ he said. “And we’re going to have a big enough imagination to change things and apply political pressure and voting power pressure.’’