Public Opinion Is On The Side Of The Protests. That's New.
Americans support the protests sparked by the death of George Floyd by a nearly 2-to-1 margin, a new HuffPost/YouGov poll finds, with most viewing Floyd’s death as part of a pattern in police treatment of Black men ― a finding that reflects a shift in public opinion about the pervasiveness of racial discrimination in policing.
The public’s view of the police, however, remains broadly positive, though marked by sharp racial and political divides.
Half of Americans say they support the protests, while 27% are opposed, 17% are neutral and the remainder are unsure. Roughly three-quarters say they are angry about Floyd’s death. By a 27-percentage-point margin, Americans agree that Blacks and other minorities are not treated equally with whites by the criminal justice system. By a 17-point margin, they don’t agree that police in most cities treat Black residents as fairly as whites.
The poll was taken as protests mounted nationwide after a white police officer in Minneapolis killed Floyd, a Black man. (Questions about views of the police were asked beginning on Wednesday, May 27, while additional questions about the protests were asked beginning on Sunday, May 31.)
The results, which align with those of other recent surveys, are a sharp contrast to views expressed in the 1960s, when civil rights protests generally faced widespread disapprobation in the polls.
More than that, they suggest opinions may have changed within the last decade ― since 2014, when many Americans expressed disapproval of protests in Ferguson, Missouri, and 2017, when just 36% of Americans said it was appropriate for NFL players to kneel in protest during the national anthem.
The share of Americans who believe that police in most cities treat Black residents as fairly as white residents has dropped 10 points since February 2015, and the share who believe Black Americans and other minorities receive equal treatment in the criminal justice system is down by 13 points.
In February...
