In NM, half back Black Lives Matter
Pollster: Support for movement grew after Floyd’s death JOURNAL POLL
Half of New Mexicans support the goals of the Black Lives Matter movement, according to a Journal Poll completed last week.
In all, 50% of those queried said they support the goals of the Black Lives Matter movement, with 34% expressing opposition. Another 14% answered with “mixed feelings/depends,” while the remaining 2% said they were “undecided/didn’t know/wouldn’t say.”
“Nationally, support for Black
Lives Matter increased significantly after George Floyd’s death, and I suspect that happened in New Mexico, also,” said Brian Sanderoff, president of Research & Polling Inc., which conducted the survey.
He added that Floyd’s killing brought social justice issues to “the forefront across America, and elevated support levels for the movement.”
The Journal Poll, which asked respondents: “Do you support or oppose the goals of the Black Lives Matter movement?” found responses were largely divided across party lines in the state.
Among those surveyed, 77% of Democrats and 15% of Republicans say they are supportive. The gap widens even farther
when presidential candidate preferences are taken into account.
According to Sanderoff, among President Donald Trump’s supporters, 8% support the Black Lives Matter movement and 74% oppose it. Conversely, 81% of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s backers support the movement, while 6% oppose it.
“Joe Biden and the Democratic Party have been highlighting social justice concerns in the presidential campaign, while the president has been downplaying them; therefore, I am not surprised about the strong correlation between candidate preference and feelings toward Black Lives Matter,” Sanderoff said.
The Black Lives Matter movement gained momentum after the May 25 death of George Floyd — a Black man who died in custody of Minneapolis police. Floyd’s death sparked months of protests against police brutality and systemic racism in cities across the country and throughout New Mexico.
In New Mexico, support and opposition percentages varied greatest depending on political ideology, geography and education.
Among self-described conservatives, 16% support the Black Lives Matter movement compared with 61% of moderates and 92% of liberals — which translates regionally.
“I think New Mexico, like the nation, is becoming more polarized,” Sanderoff said. “Our conservative areas are maintaining their strong conservative positions and the urban areas are becoming more moderate to liberal over time.”
The poll found that support levels for the movement are lower in more rural, conservative areas like eastern New Mexico, where 28% support the movement compared with 60% in the north-central region — including Santa Fe and Taos — and 58% in the Albuquerque area.
Sanderoff said those with a higher education are also more supportive.
“We’ve seen that in all the polls, people with graduate degrees have become more liberal, more Democratic,” he said.
Among those with a graduate degree, 66% support the Black Lives Matter movement and, from there, the percentages decrease alongside the education level. Among those with a high school degree or less, 43% support the movement.
There was also some variation among ethnicities. Of those surveyed, 58% of Hispanics support the goals of the Black Lives Matter movement, compared with 46% of Anglos.
Sanderoff said the poll surveyed all ethnic groups, but because Black people make up only 2% of the state’s population, the group was too small to report on statistically.
‘Tip of the iceberg’
Nikki Archuleta, an organizer with the Black Lives Matter movement, said the results — on both sides — are not surprising.
“We’re in a space now where people are more educated on what is actually happening in the world — for example George Floyd, seeing him being murdered — you can’t really justify that,” Archuleta said. “People are starting to acknowledge Black people are human beings.”
She charged that some Republicans and conservatives who don’t support the movement may be ill-informed, set in their ways or “outright racist.”
Archuleta criticized Trump for adding fuel to the fire by attacking Black Lives Matter leaders and the movement as a whole.
The pendulum swings both ways, however, as Archuleta said there are also liberals and progressives who are “highly problematic.”
Archuleta said protesting and rallying is only the “tip of the iceberg” toward real change.
At worst, she said some white liberals get involved — in what she calls “performative activism” — as a temporary trend for their social media account.
As for the poll results: “It’s easy to take a survey and say ‘yeah I support Black Lives Matter,’” she said. “It’s easy to do those things but as far as support goes, I’m like ‘sure, they showed up for a moment.’ I wouldn’t say it’s consistent in the sense that things are actually being changed.”
Methodology
The poll is based on a scientific, statewide sample of 457 likely general election voters who also voted in either the 2016 and 2018 general elections – or both.
The voter sample has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.6 percentage points. The margin of error grows for subsamples.
The poll was conducted from Aug. 26 through Sept. 2, and all interviews were conducted by live, professional interviewers, with multiple callbacks to households that did not initially answer the phone. Both cellphone numbers (74%) and landlines (26%) of likely general election voters were used.