Call it protest fatigue? Call it a backlash? Call it America waking up to the fact that hurling bottles at police and looting the local Target will do nothing to improve racial relations in this country?
It may take a while to fully discern why the American public is now turning against the Black Lives Matter protests that have been commonplace since the death of George Floyd in May, but the fact that the tide is turning – that’s unmistakable. Take it from a new Associated Press poll which finds that 44% of Americans now disapprove of protests against police violence. Only 39% approve of the protests.
This is a sea change since June, when a full 54% of Americans said they supported the demonstrations.
It should be noted that this poll was actually conducted before the protests in Louisville on Wednesday that resulted in two police officers being shot. So it’s entirely possible that support for these demonstrations has sunk even lower since the survey was taken.
“I was supportive back in June, but after seeing everything up until now, I’m almost dead against them,” one 63-year-old man told the AP. “I was a pretty wild young man. Every time the police stopped me, and every issue I had with them, I was completely in the wrong. I do believe they are doing their job right.”
If you break the numbers down by race, it becomes quickly obvious that black Americans are the only group that still gives majority approval to the protests.
Fox News breaks it down:
The poll also found that 35% of White Americans approve of the protests now, while 50% disapprove. In June, 53% of White Americans approved of the protests while 34% disapproved.
Among Latinos, 31% approve, compared with 44% in June; 63% of Black Americans support the protests, down from 81%, with more now saying they neither approve nor disapprove.
Eighty-four percent of Black Americans, but just 42% of white Americans and 50% of Latinos, say police more often use deadly force against a Black person than a white person. Meanwhile, 74% of Black Americans say the criminal justice system is too lenient when officers cause injury or death, 47% of white Americans and 50% of Latinos say the same.
Look, even police will admit that there are aspects of law enforcement that may need reform. No one is arguing otherwise. Our country wasn’t built in a day, and we should always strive to find better solutions to the problems we’re facing.
But when the “problems” are made-up and based on isolated, badly-reported incidents here and there, no real progress can ever be made. And when the “solutions” are defunding the police and telling white people to sit down and shut up, we’re going absolutely nowhere.
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