Poll: Most Black voters differ with Desantis on AP class
Most Black voters disapprove of Florida Gov. Ron Desantis’s recent moves to block the teaching of a high school Black history class, part of the Republican’s recent push to reshape the state ahead of an expected presidential run, according to a new poll.
The poll also showed that President Joe Biden remains highly popular among Black voters.
HIT Strategies’ latest Blacktrack survey comes as Desantis has emerged as the leading challenger to former President Donald Trump in the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination – a contest that has major implications for the direction of the GOP as a whole.
Displeasure with Desantis
Nearly two-thirds of Black voters, 65%, said they disagreed with Desantis’s actions to limit Advanced Placement African American studies.
More than half, 51%, said they “strongly disagree,” while only 14% said they agreed with the decision.
Black voters also said there is a dearth of Black history taught in public schools; 70% of Black voters said K-12 public schools teach “too little” about Black history.
Desantis has frequently pushed back against diversity, equity and inclusion programs across public universities and colleges in Florida.
What does that mean for Democrats?
Jermaine House, senior director of communication at HIT Strategies, said Desantis’s attacks against Black history and critical race theory can help Democrats.
“I think that any Republican that employs those tools (attacking Black history), that represents a grand opportunity for Democrats to mobilize Black voters and Democratic voters,” House said.
House also said that teaching critical race theory, which argues racism is embedded in U.S. laws and institutions, garners a majority of support among Black and Democratic voters of all races.
“This is another issue in which the Democratic Party politicians are out of step with the actual Democratic Party base,” he said.
What did poll show about Biden?
The overwhelming majority of Black
voters, 82%, approved of Biden. Biden’s approval rating was an eight percentage point increase over last month, when 74% of Black voters approved of him.
The survey was taken in the aftermath of Biden’s State of the Union address on Feb. 7.
Congressional Democrats also increased their approval ratings among Black voters; 80% of Black voters approved of Democrats, a six percentage point increase from last month.
Age gap in Biden’s approval numbers
While Biden does enjoy high approval numbers among Black voters, there is some cause for concern.
Among Black voters over 50, 88% approve of Biden. But that percentage drops to 77% among Black voters under 50, an 11 percentage point gap.
Death of Tyre Nichols
The video of Memphis police officers brutally beating Tyre Nichols, a 29year-old Black man who later died, prompted national attention in late January.
In the aftermath, 82% of Black voters said police use of force was unjustified and 90% said Memphis police officers involved in the beating should be found guilty.
Nearly 60% of Black voters said police department resources should be diverted to fund community services, while only 8% disagreed.
House said that while the slogan “defund the police” is unpopular with Black voters, when it’s explained without using the slogan there is more support for it.
“When you say ‘do you prefer funding things like social services, alternative services, counseling, over maximizing police budgets?’ a majority of Black voters say yes,” he said. “However, that’s not just true for Black voters. That’s true for Americans in general.”
The poll was conducted via an online opt-in panel from Feb. 16-19 and has a margin of error of 3.1%.