Nearly two-thirds of Americans support the nationwide protests for Black lives and racial justice that erupted after Minneapolis police killed George Floyd in late May, and over half of Americans believe the demonstrations will help boost public backing for racial justice.
That’s according to a Gallup poll released Tuesday and conducted June 23-July 6, 2020.
According to the survey, 65% of U.S. adults support the protests, a view felt most strongly by Black Americans (92%) and adults less than 29 years old (87%).
There was a whopping partisan divide.
While 95% of Democrats said they support the actions, just 22% of Republicans said they did. Support was expressed from 69% of Independents.
The poll also reflected overall optimism from respondents about the protests’ ability to effect positive change. A total of 53% of adults said the demonstrations will help public support for racial justice compared to 34% who said the actions would hurt the cause. Adults younger than 29 were most likely (78%) to believe the protests will help, compared to 42% of those 65 and older.
A partisan divide was clear on this questions as well—84% of Democrats said the protests will help compared to 53% of Independents and just 13% of Republicans.
Republicans overwhelmingly (74%) said the protests will actually hurt public support for racial justice.
The new polling comes days after a weekend in which nationwide protests against police brutality continued, with some actions spurred by the forceful crackdowns on demonstrators from federal agents deployed by President Donald Trump