Pew: Majority of Americans Say Black Lives Matter Didn’t Change Things for the Better

Pew Research released an article Wednesday titled “Views of Race, Policing and Black Lives Matter in the 5 Years Since George Floyd’s Killing.” Pew found that while support for Black Lives Matter briefly peaked in June 2020 after the death of George Floyd, since then it’s support has leveled out to a slim majority.

Public support for the Black Lives Matter movement…reached a high mark in June 2020, when 67% of U.S. adults expressed support, according to our surveys.

However, support quickly dropped. In September 2020, 55% of Americans said they supported the Black Lives Matter movement, a 12 percentage point decrease from a few months prior. And support had declined again by 2023, when about half of Americans said they supported the movement (51%).

Today, support seems to have leveled off. Some 52% of Americans say they strongly or somewhat support the movement, and 45% say they oppose it.

I’m a bit surprised support for BLM remains that high after all of the news about their property buying sprees. But even so, there is a general consensus that their tactics, focusing attention on viral videos or police shootings, were not effective. More than 70% of Americans now say nothing much has changed as a result. Interestingly, most of that decline is the result of Democrats who now appear disillusioned.

There’s also been a shift in how Americans see the impact the attention on race and racial inequality in summer 2020 has had on the lives of Black people.

In September 2020, 52% thought the increased attention to these issues would lead to changes that would improve the lives of Black people. By 2023, 40% said that had happened. That figure stands at just 27% today. About seven-in-ten (72%) now say the increased focus on these issues after Floyd’s murder did not lead to changes that improved the lives of Black people.

Democrats have become especially skeptical of the impact the increased focus on race and racial inequality has had on the lives of Black people. 

About a third of Democrats and those who lean Democratic (34%) now say the focus on these issues after Floyd’s murder led to changes that improved the lives of Black people – roughly half the share (70%) who thought this would happen in September 2020. The change has been more modest among Republicans and Republican leaners (21% today vs. 31% in 2020).

Pew also adds that “today’s answers vary little by race and ethnicity, if at all.” In other words, the changes are mostly among parties, not racial groups.

There’s also strong agreement that corporate statements about BLM were mostly about going with the flow, not about any real deep commitment to a cause.

A majority of Americans who said they had seen or heard public statements about race or racial inequality (69%) said pressure from others to address the issue was a driving reason for companies’ actions. A much smaller share (19%) said genuine concerns about the treatment of Black people in the country were a large reason for these statements.

Let’s face it, corporations didn’t want to be picketed or boycotted so they said the right things to avoid it. But recently they’ve been backing away from those commitments.

Finally, Pew did have some open ended questions where people could write in their own responses. Here’s what one white Democrat had to say:

“We have started moving backwards in the equal rights progression we’ve made over the years. With a president like Trump who is getting rid of Black History Month, inclusivity and special initiatives that ensure people of color and underrepresented people will have equal opportunities, this will surely set us back decades.”

I can’t help but notice that this person seems to equate progress with DEI, something that was dying even before Trump was elected. A white Republican saw it very differently.

“Affirmative action is not fair for White people. Less-qualified Black people getting a job over a more-qualified White person because they’re Black. Management being scared to fire a person because of their race when they’ve done something that deserves to get them fired.”

One more from a Hispanic Democrat who said, “It’s to the point that if a Black person doesn’t get what they want, it’s racist. If they get caught doing wrong and to not face consequences it’s racist, etc.”