Opinions about race are softening among white New Yorkers but not among blacks, says a statewide Siena College poll released yesterday.

“As we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2011, New Yorkers think race relations in the state are slightly better than they were last year,” said spokesman Steven Greenberg.

In the survey of registered voters, 55 percent characterized race relations as “excellent” or “good” and 43 percent as “fair” or “poor.”

But while 60 percent of whites expressed a generally positive view, blacks were nearly the reverse: 63 percent negative.

And the black perspective was virtually unchanged from last year’s.

Meanwhile, voters 18 to 34 had the rosiest view, calling race relations excellent or good by a 67-33 margin.