AMHERST — A new University of Massachusetts Amherst poll recently found that close to half of its respondents are against affirmative action.
The poll, which had a main sample of 1,000 Americans, plus an oversample of 133 Black Americans, found that Black people are more supportive of affirmative action, with 52% of Black respondents supporting it and just 21% opposing it. On the flip side, only 33% of all respondents support affirmative action, while 44% oppose it.
The poll, released by UMass on June 16, also asked respondents their views on abortion, gun control and universal income.
Respondents were also asked to share their approval rates of the three branches of government and on President Joe Biden, as well as reveal whom they would vote for when given a choice of candidates including President Biden and former President Donald Trump. The full results of the poll can be found at polsci.umass.edu/research/umass-poll.
Affirmative action has become a polarizing issue in the last few weeks, after two federal lawsuits filed by the conservative nonprofit Students for Fair Admissions against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina. The nonprofit group seeks to rid college admissions of race-conscious admissions on the basis that it is racially discriminatory.
The Supreme Court decision is expected to strike down affirmative action, which would mirror the results of the UMass study.
Advocates have said the ruling likely will hurt the acceptance rates of people of color, specifically Black students. Affirmative action stands to increase diversity of college campuses, and removing race-conscious admissions entirely will prevent colleges and universities from diversifying their campuses.