Commentary
The Supreme Court’s decision striking down racial preferences in student admissions at Harvard and the University of North Carolina is proving to be highly popular with American voters.
The most recent poll, released on July 17, reveals that 65 percent—nearly two-thirds—of likely voters approve of the court’s 6–3 ruling, including 49 percent—nearly half—who strongly approve. Only 28 percent disapproved. The polling firm was Rasmussen, which generally skews conservative, but its results are in line with earlier polls conducted shortly before and after the justices’ June 29 decision.
For example, in a YouGov survey (pdf) taken for CBS between June 15 and June 17, a full 70 percent of respondents said that colleges shouldn’t be allowed to consider an applicant’s race as part of their admissions policies. That included 55 percent of Democrats and 50 percent of people who had voted for President Joe Biden in 2020. Among blacks and Hispanics, who are typically the explicit beneficiaries of colleges’ racial preferences, support for getting rid of them was 50 percent and 68 percent, respectively….