Poll: Majority of Americans Support NFL Anthem Protests

A poll conducted by Yahoo News/YouGov, shows that a majority of Americans now support a right to protest during the national anthem for NFL players.

According to the poll results:

…a majority of Americans, 52 percent, now agree that it is ‘OK for NFL players to kneel during the national anthem to protest police killings of African Americans.’ Now, 36 percent of respondents say it’s inappropriate to do so. (The remaining 12 percent answered ‘not sure.’)

For the question “Is it OK for NFL players to kneel during the national anthem to protest police killings of African Americans?” both male and female respondents agreed that it was, by a margin of 52 percent to 37 percent (male) and 52 percent to 34 percent (female). Younger respondents tended to be more favorable to the idea, with 68 percent of those 18-29 agreeing that it was. That number steadily declined to 36 percent of respondents over 65.

Self-described Democrats strongly favored the right to protest, at 77 percent, while only 20 percent of Republicans, and 20 percent of self-described Trump voters, answered in the affirmative. Along racial lines, 77 percent of blacks, 57 percent of Hispanics, and 47 percent of whites answered positively. Among respondents with incomes of more than $100,000, 63 percent agreed with the right to protest, while 49 percent of respondents with incomes of less than $50,000 agreed.

The poll represents a significant shift in public opinion.

In response to the question ‘Did you support or oppose Colin Kaepernick when he protested racial injustice by kneeling during the playing of the national anthem starting in 2016?’ 42 percent (40 percent of men, 45 percent of women) now say they supported Kaepernick at the time. As with the prior question, support declined with the respondent’s age, and was sharply defined by the respondent’s political party and income.

That represents a 10-point swing towards a favorable outlook on the anthem protests.

“The poll of 1,570 Americans was conducted June 9 and 10 and covered a range of topics, including police brutality, racial injustice and presidential evaluation,” Yahoo Sports reports.