An overwhelming majority of Americans — including 52% of Blacks — say that they agree with the Supreme Court's decision to ban affirmative action initiatives at universities, according to a new Gallup poll released Tuesday.
Overall, 68% of those surveyed said that eradicating race and ethnicity considerations from the university admissions decisions is "mostly a good thing" vs. 32% saying it's "mostly a bad thing."
The breakdown, according to Gallup, of the groups saying the decision was "mostly a good thing":
- Asian adults: 63%;
- Black adults: 52% (48% called it "mostly a bad thing");
- Hispanic adults: 68%;
- White adults: 72%.
The Supreme Court issued its landmark decision in June, ruling 6-3 that Harvard and the University of North Carolina could no longer favor underrepresented groups in the admissions process.
Half of Black adults surveyed said the decision would have a "negative impact" on higher education in the U.S., the most by far of the racial and ethnic groups surveyed. Nearly half of Asian adults (48%) said it would have a "positive impact," while 22% of Hispanics and 23% of whites say it would have "no impact at all."
"The Supreme Court decision comes at a precarious time for Black Americans considering pursuing higher education, as Black enrollment has been on the decline for more than a decade and Black students are more likely than any other students to be juggling competing priorities that hamper their ability to complete a degree," Gallup wrote in its analysis.
Gallup surveyed 12,443 U.S. adults from Oct. 25-Nov. 9, 2023. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 1.9 points with a 95% confidence level.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.