What do Americans think about affirmative action?

(NewsNation) — Most Americans don’t think race should be a factor in college admissions or employment decisions, even as they voice support for affirmative action in general, recent polls show.

A new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll released Wednesday found most people (57%) think “affirmative action programs in hiring, promoting and college admissions” should be continued.

Those findings align with a 2021 Gallup survey that showed 62% of people “favor affirmative action programs for racial minorities.”

But Americans respond differently when asked directly whether race should be considered in college and employment decisions.

Most respondents, 62%, in a February Ipsos/Reuters poll said race or ethnicity “should not be considered at all” for college admissions. Almost three-quarters of U.S. adults said the same in a 2022 Pew Research survey.

When it comes to hiring and promotions, 74% of people said a person’s qualifications should be the only thing companies take into account, even if it results in less diversity, Pew found.

Today, about 40% of U.S. colleges take race into account during admissions, but that practice could soon be outlawed when the Supreme Court issues its ruling after hearing two recent challenges.

Views vary by political party, race

Democrats are far more likely than Republicans to support affirmative action policies and say race should be a factor in college admissions decisions.

Nearly eight in ten Democrats surveyed (78%) said affirmative action programs in hiring, promotion and college admissions should be continued, the NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll found. By comparison, just one-third of Republicans said the same.

As to whether race or ethnicity should be a factor in college admissions, 74% of Republicans said no compared to 45% of Democrats, according to the Ipsos/Reuters survey.

Attitudes on the topic also vary by race and ethnicity.

A majority of white (57%) and Asian (52%) adults disapprove of “selective colleges and universities” taking race and ethnicity into account in admissions decisions, a 2023 Pew survey found.

Whereas, Black adults were more in favor — with 47% approving and 29% disapproving — of race being a factor. Hispanics were evenly split on the question.

Recent ballot measures have failed

Nine states have already banned the consideration of race in college applications: Arizona, California, Florida, Idaho, Michigan, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oklahoma and Washington.

Efforts to overturn those bans have almost always failed, even in overwhelmingly Democratic states.

In 2020, voters in California rejected a ballot measure that would have restored race-conscious affirmative action in the state. Proposition 16 — which would have allowed public entities to consider factors like race, sex, color, ethnicity and national origin in hiring and college admissions decisions — was soundly defeated with more than 57% of voters opposed.

In deep blue Los Angeles, the measure garnered only 51% support, according to a recent analysis by the New York Times.

A year earlier, a similar effort to bring back affirmative action in Washington state also failed.

But reinstating affirmative action may be more difficult than persuading voters not to outlaw it in the first place. In 2008, Colorado became the first state to vote against banning affirmative action.