52% of black Americans back Supreme Court's affirmative action ban: Gallup poll

A new poll released by Gallup has revealed that over half of black Americans support the US Supreme Court’s decision to ban affirmative action in college admission decisions.

52 percent of black adults polled said that the ban was "mostly a good thing," while 48 percent said it was "mostly a bad thing."

Overall, 68 percent of American adults said that decision, which came down from the Supreme Court in June of 2023, was a good thing, while just 32 percent said it was bad.

63 percent of Asian adults, 68 percent of Hispanic adults, and 72 percent of white adults said the decision was a good thing.

Despite agreeing with the decision, 50 percent of black adults said that the decision would have a negative impact. 33 percent said it would have a positive impact, while 17 percent said there would be no impact at all.

In contrast, Asian, Hispanic, and White adults were more likely to say that it would have a positive impact, at 48, 45, and 47 percent.

The poll was conducted between October 25 and November 9 of 12,443 US adults, and has a margin of error of 1.9 percent.

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in June that affirmative action is unconstitutional and violates the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.

The ruling came as part of two cases, Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. University of North Carolina and Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harvard College. 

"Twenty years have passed since Grutter, with no end to race-based college admissions in sight. But the Court has permitted race-based college admissions only within the confines of narrow restrictions: such admissions programs must comply with strict scrutiny, may never use race as a stereotype or negative, and must — at some point — end. Respondents’ admissions systems fail each of these criteria and must therefore be invalidated under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment," the court stated.

The group that brought forth the cases asked the court to overturn a 2003 ruling, Grutter v. Bollinger, which allowed ethnic and racial identities to play a part in the acceptance of students to colleges and universities. 

At the time of the ruling in Grutter, Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor said that "25 years from now, the use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary to further" a school's desire for a diverse student body.