As protests have emerged across the world in the wake of the killing of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, many survey organizations have increased the number of questions they ask related to race relations, police brutality, the oppression of Black Americans, and reactions to the Black Lives Matter protests. To help understand public opinion in this historic period, the Roper Center is providing open access to the responses to these questions. Just click on the images below. Roper Center members can download datasets through the Roper iPoll digital archive. The Roper Center is also making the data available to non-members free of charge. Contact data-services@ropercenter.org to request files.
Recent Survey Questions Related to Black Americans, Policing, and Protest
Examples of Downloadable Current Opinion Charts
Change in Race Relations
Have race relations in the United States become better or worse since Donald Trump became president, or has there been no change? Explore the entire Monmouth University National Poll: June 2020 Coronavirus from May 28, 2020 - June 1, 2020.
Was Anger Justified
Do you think the anger that led to these protests was fully justified, partially justified, or not at all justified? Explore entire Monmouth University National Poll: June 2020 Coronavirus from May 28, 2020 - June 1, 2020.
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Police and Protest Opinion
Which concerns you more--the actions of the police and the death of an African American man, or protests that have turned violent? See complete NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll study from May 28, 2020 - June 2, 2020.
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Police Use of Deadly Force
Do you think that police are more likely to use deadly force on Black Americans or White Americans? Explore the entire CBS News Poll from May 29, 2020 - June 2, 2020.
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The President's Handling of Racial Relations
Do you approve or disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling race relations? Explore the complete CNN poll from 06/02/2020 - 06/05/2020 here.
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Treatment of Black Americans By Police
Do you think the killing of George Floyd was an isolated incident or a sign of broader problems in treatment of black Americans by police? Explore the complete Washington Post/Schar School Poll from June 2, 2020 - June 7, 2020.
Pandemic and People of Color
How concerned are you if the coronavirus pandemic is doing greater damage to people of color? Explore the entire Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index Wave 11 from May 29, 2020 - June 1, 2020 here.
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Changing the Policing
Have police in America made the changes needed to treat blacks equally to whites or do police in America need to continue making changes to treat blacks equally to whites? Explore the complete Washington Post/Schar School Poll June 2, 2020 - June 7, 2020.
Death of George Floyd an Isolated Incident
Do you think the recent death of George Floyd in Minneapolis is an isolated incident or a sign of broader problems in the treatment of African Americans by police? Explore the entire ABC News/Ipsos Poll: 2020 Coronavirus Wave 11 from June 3, 2020 - June 4, 2020.
Renaming Military Bases
Do you support or oppose changing the names of United States military bases that are named after Confederate leaders? Explore the entire ABC News/Ipsos Poll: 2020 Coronavirus Wave 13 from June 17, 2020 - June 18, 2020
Should Reparations Be Paid
Do you think the federal government should or should not pay money to black Americans whose ancestors were slaves as compensation for that slavery? Explore the entire ABC News/Ipsos Poll: 2020 Coronavirus Wave 13 from June 17, 2020 - June 18, 2020
Support for Police Defunding
Do you support or oppose the movement to “defund the police"? Explore entire ABC News/Ipsos Poll: 2020 Coronavirus Wave 12 from June 10, 2020 - June 11, 2020.
Body Cameras
Do you favor, oppose, or neither favor nor oppose requiring on-duty police officers to wear video cameras that would record their interactions with the public as they occur? Explore the entire June 2020 AP-NORC Center Poll from June 11, 2020 - June 15, 2020.
Protest Violence
How big a problem is the violence caused by protests against police violence in the United States today? Explore the entire Kaiser Family Foundation Poll: June 2020 Kaiser Health Tracking Poll from June 8, 2020 - June 14, 2020.
Chokeholds
Do you support or oppose banning the use of chokeholds by police officers? Explore the entire ABC News/Ipsos Poll: 2020 Coronavirus Wave 13 from June 17, 2020 - June 18, 2020
Feelings Towards the Confederate Flag
When you see the Confederate flag displayed, do you have a positive reaction, a negative reaction or neither? Explore the entire ABC News/Ipsos Poll: 2020 Coronavirus Wave 15 from July 8, 2020 - July 9, 2020.
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Longstanding Concerns About Treatment of Black Americans
How much, if at all, do you think longstanding concerns about the treatment of black people in the country have contributed to the demonstrations to protest the death of George Floyd?......A great deal, some, not too much, not at all? From Pew Research Center: American Trends Panel Wave 68: June 4, 2020 - June 10, 2020
BLM Protest Legitimacy
Do you think the Black Lives Matter demonstrations are mostly legitimate protests or mostly people acting unlawfully? From NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist Poll: August 2020, August 3, 2020 - August 11, 2020
The above questions come from the Roper Center’s Longstanding Methods Collection. You can see the data from the recently developed methods collection here, most of which predates polling on the Black Lives Matter protests.