Half of adults disapprove of colleges considering race and ethnicity in admissions, while one third approve and the rest are unsure, according to a recent Pew survey.
Americans are nearly three times as likely to say they strongly disapprove (29 percent) than that they strongly approve (11 percent).
There's a sharp split in opinion between Republicans and those leaning Republican and Democrats and Democratic leaners.
By more than two to one, Americans say considering race and ethnicity makes college admissions "less fair" (49 percent) rather than "more fair" (20 percent), Pew reports.
They split on whether these policies make students' educational experiences better (27 percent), worse (26 percent) or neither (30 percent).
In a 2022 survey, only 26 percent said race or ethnicity should be a factor in admissions: No racial group supported race-based affirmative action. However, 46 percent said they'd support special consideration for an applicant who'd be the first in the family to go to college.
Polling on affirmative action (like abortion) is highly dependent on how the question is phrased.
This poll would have been more instructive if the question asked Asians was "Do you support systematically discriminating against Asian college admission applicants?"
After all, Asians kids suffer FAR more student applicant discrimination than any other group -- including whites.
Indeed, it would have been instructive to ask ALL those polled the exact same question: "Do you support systematically discriminating against Asian college admission applicants?"
That way, we'd get to see true racism -- up close and personal.