Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Polybius

(21,901 posts)
Fri Feb 11, 2022, 01:34 PM Feb 2022

New poll: 55% of Americans say nominating a Black woman to the Supreme Court is not 'important'

Source: Yahoo! News

With President Biden set to announce a nominee to replace the retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer by the end of February, most Americans now say they’re lukewarm about his promise to pick a Black woman for the first time in U.S. history, according to a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll — while also saying the top three Black women on Biden’s shortlist are “qualified” to sit on the court.

The survey of 1,628 U.S. adults, which was conducted from Feb. 3 to 7, found that a clear majority of those polled (55 percent) say nominating a Black woman is either “not very” (19 percent) or “not at all” (36 percent) important to them. Just 23 percent say it is “very important.”

Predictably, the overall number who say nominating a Black woman is either very or somewhat important is much higher among Democrats (80 percent) and 2020 Biden voters (78 percent) than among independents (35 percent), Republicans (16 percent) or 2020 Donald Trump voters (10 percent).

Likewise, just 36 percent of Americans say Biden’s pledge was a "good idea," while the rest say it was either “a bad idea” (32 percent) or “neither good nor bad” (32 percent). And just a third of Americans say they have “a great deal” or “quite a bit” of confidence that Biden will select "the right kind of person" to replace Breyer on the court (33 percent), or that they themselves expect to support the nominee Biden puts forward (34 percent) — noticeably lower than the 39 percent who said they expected to support "President Trump's Supreme Court nominee" in September 2020, just before he nominated Amy Coney Barrett.

Read more: https://news.yahoo.com/new-poll-55-of-americans-say-nominating-a-black-woman-to-the-supreme-court-is-not-important-100011137.html

44 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
New poll: 55% of Americans say nominating a Black woman to the Supreme Court is not 'important' (Original Post) Polybius Feb 2022 OP
Did they poll even a single black person? NT FeelingBlue Feb 2022 #1
They polled 215 Black people according to the poll stats. former9thward Feb 2022 #26
Well they never asked me blue-wave Feb 2022 #43
It was important to ram through Amy Coney Barrett IronLionZion Feb 2022 #2
Speak it IronLionZion, speak it! n/t iluvtennis Feb 2022 #19
On the edge of my seat... hay rick Feb 2022 #3
+++ JohnSJ Feb 2022 #14
++++ iluvtennis Feb 2022 #20
Looks to break down predictably among specific demographics Torchlight Feb 2022 #4
Ten percent of Trumpsky voters must've misunderstood the question. n/t Harker Feb 2022 #22
If you read this article you will realize nevergiveup Feb 2022 #5
Reporters want to sensationalize and pump up their stories. Dirty laundry gets more looks Ziggysmom Feb 2022 #29
Such as "Only 22% of Americans oppose Biden nominating a Black Woman." Gore1FL Feb 2022 #34
I bet DownriverDem Feb 2022 #6
The polled 215 Black folks. former9thward Feb 2022 #27
Of course they did; because the population is mostly white. brooklynite Feb 2022 #30
Of course. 68% of the respondents were white. And they drowned out the Black respondents. SunSeeker Feb 2022 #38
Thanks for posting this article - it contains lots of interesting information. SharonClark Feb 2022 #7
And the other 1/3 didn't bother to read the resume robbob Feb 2022 #24
Manipulated reporting of polling results gifted to us by Yahoo. keopeli Feb 2022 #8
Why even bother? GHW Bush appointed Clarence Thomas to replace Thrugood Marshall DFW Feb 2022 #9
Bullshit! I'd love to see the data for just who was polled. Was this taken in Alabama? Scalded Nun Feb 2022 #10
The stats are at the link in the OP former9thward Feb 2022 #28
I am of 2 minds about making an explicit commitment to select a black woman. maxsolomon Feb 2022 #11
A Yahoo/YouGov poll? I'm sure they would be good in a sewer. LiberalFighter Feb 2022 #12
THIS 👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻 LenaBaby61 Feb 2022 #23
The framing and responses was design to get a negative result. rogue emissary Feb 2022 #13
They did not poll me, I think it's Great to nominate a black woman! MacKasey Feb 2022 #15
That's okay. We have a drunk white guy and an illiterate bimbo on there now. ffr Feb 2022 #16
yep. nt BootinUp Feb 2022 #42
This is America. IrishAfricanAmerican Feb 2022 #17
so what? RussBLib Feb 2022 #18
I'm with you. If you poll every change in America and abide by results, nothing would ever get done. Midnight Writer Feb 2022 #21
Yahoos Xoan Feb 2022 #25
The results of this poll are not a good look for the white people of this country. SunSeeker Feb 2022 #31
how about -" loss of confidence in the Supreme Court of nothing " ? monkeyman1 Feb 2022 #32
Hahah. What % of people felt it was important to get a pasty white "Boof King"... jvill Feb 2022 #33
"Independents" are not independent. Indyfan53 Feb 2022 #35
I could see how they're saying that. rockfordfile Feb 2022 #36
I don't think cannabis_flower Feb 2022 #37
Complete bullshit headline. Scruffy1 Feb 2022 #39
Disheartening Joinfortmill Feb 2022 #40
reflects that focusing on Black women is oddly specific cadoman Feb 2022 #41
I will say TheFarseer Feb 2022 #44

blue-wave

(5,130 posts)
43. Well they never asked me
Sat Feb 12, 2022, 03:00 AM
Feb 2022

and I'm not black nor am I female. But it is overdue, therefore time we see a black woman on the Supreme Court.

IronLionZion

(51,269 posts)
2. It was important to ram through Amy Coney Barrett
Fri Feb 11, 2022, 01:45 PM
Feb 2022

because her impeccable qualifications make her a good replacement for RBG.

But they already know that an unnamed black woman is unqualified without knowing her name or qualifications.

hay rick

(9,605 posts)
3. On the edge of my seat...
Fri Feb 11, 2022, 01:49 PM
Feb 2022

to find out what the 90% of Americans who don't know who Stephen Breyer is think about nominating a black, female justice. The entire point of these polls is to use them to crank out negative headlines about Biden and his administration. Got to keep the party of Trump Traitors competitive- they have eyeballs and wallets too.

Torchlight

(6,830 posts)
4. Looks to break down predictably among specific demographics
Fri Feb 11, 2022, 01:50 PM
Feb 2022

"...the overall number who say nominating a Black woman is either very or somewhat important is much higher among Democrats (80 percent) and 2020 Biden voters (78 percent) than among independents (35 percent), Republicans (16 percent) or 2020 Donald Trump voters (10 percent).

"Yet the striking thing is that the vast majority of those same Americans polled — and a smaller but still significant majority of Republicans — agree that all three of the Black women reportedly at the top of Biden’s shortlist meet the standards for qualification."

nevergiveup

(4,815 posts)
5. If you read this article you will realize
Fri Feb 11, 2022, 01:51 PM
Feb 2022

that there are a plethora of titles he could have chosen. The one the author chose is very telling.

Ziggysmom

(4,123 posts)
29. Reporters want to sensationalize and pump up their stories. Dirty laundry gets more looks
Fri Feb 11, 2022, 05:08 PM
Feb 2022

than factual truth reporting. You nailed it.

Gore1FL

(22,951 posts)
34. Such as "Only 22% of Americans oppose Biden nominating a Black Woman."
Fri Feb 11, 2022, 06:00 PM
Feb 2022

We already know 22% of this country is composed of mouth-breathing racists.

DownriverDem

(7,014 posts)
6. I bet
Fri Feb 11, 2022, 01:57 PM
Feb 2022

they asked mostly white folks. I'm white and know that we need diversity on the SC. repubs have angry white men who drag their women with them.

former9thward

(33,424 posts)
27. The polled 215 Black folks.
Fri Feb 11, 2022, 03:25 PM
Feb 2022

Which was 13% of the sample and the percent of Blacks in the population.

 

brooklynite

(96,882 posts)
30. Of course they did; because the population is mostly white.
Fri Feb 11, 2022, 05:47 PM
Feb 2022

Bear in mind, they didn't say they were OPPOSED to a Black woman; they said it wasn't important in the choice.

SunSeeker

(58,283 posts)
38. Of course. 68% of the respondents were white. And they drowned out the Black respondents.
Fri Feb 11, 2022, 07:23 PM
Feb 2022

75% of Black respondents thought a Black female Justice was very or somewhat important, while only 37% of white respondents thought so. But because there were so many white respondents, the poll concluded that 55% of Americans did not think it was important. Not a good look for the white people of America.


SharonClark

(10,497 posts)
7. Thanks for posting this article - it contains lots of interesting information.
Fri Feb 11, 2022, 02:00 PM
Feb 2022

"The results of the poll are unambiguous. When shown a name, photograph and a brief résumé, including age, education and prior experience, the share of Americans who say that Ketanji Brown Jackson, Leondra Kruger and J. Michelle Childs are either “very” or “somewhat” qualified to “sit on the Supreme Court” hovers at around two-thirds."

In these knee-jerk times, 45% is actually good.

robbob

(3,750 posts)
24. And the other 1/3 didn't bother to read the resume
Fri Feb 11, 2022, 03:01 PM
Feb 2022

and relevant experience details once they saw the picture…😤

keopeli

(3,582 posts)
8. Manipulated reporting of polling results gifted to us by Yahoo.
Fri Feb 11, 2022, 02:03 PM
Feb 2022

"not important" means not headline-worthy. "Not important" does not mean "don't do it". Stupid question phrased stupidly. Here's a more honest way to phrase the same question:
Nominating a Black Woman is:
a - I'm not a racist.
b - I'm not a racist and I can prove it.
c - I'm not a racist (wink).
Result - Can you believe ONLY more than half of Americans said I'm not a racist?!

And only 10 percent of Trump voters answered "I'm not a racist (wink)!"

JUST a third of voters say Biden's pledge is a good idea! But if you add people who say it's NOT a bad idea with people who say it IS a bad idea, that's 64%!! OMG!!!

And get this: 34% said they expect to support Biden's pick (in a non-election year). But 39% said they expected to support Trump's pic of ACB! (right before a presidential election). Of course, the margin of error is 2.7%, which makes the difference moot, but why quibble about facts when Yahoo can make it sound like Biden is less popular than Trump (even though he won a direct election by 11 million more votes a year ago)!

Way to play up to your anti-democracy, racist base, Yahoo. How does your company survive?

DFW

(60,186 posts)
9. Why even bother? GHW Bush appointed Clarence Thomas to replace Thrugood Marshall
Fri Feb 11, 2022, 02:07 PM
Feb 2022

It was blatantly (and cynically) because of his race. How did THAT work out for us?

i don't think it's vitally necessary to have the appearance of affirmative action on the Supreme Court, but nor do I think it would hurt our standing in world opinion, either. I just hope the choice is as much "affirmative" as it is "action." With Biden and Harris doing the choosing, I'm not overly worried. A black woman who thinks like we do would be just fabulous, but the "thinks like we do" is far more important than gender or race. A female version of Clarence Thomas would be as bad as Amy Phony Carrot being the female replacement for Scalia.

But, like I said, with Biden and Harris doing the choosing, I think we are in good hands.

maxsolomon

(38,729 posts)
11. I am of 2 minds about making an explicit commitment to select a black woman.
Fri Feb 11, 2022, 02:11 PM
Feb 2022

1. It is a way to redress historic wrongs and create diversity in a historically white male institution. Kagan & Sotomayor are representative of that effort, too.
2. There are minorities that were explicitly excluded by Biden's commitment: Asians come to mind, and I'm sure there are several qualified Asian women jurists.

So, is it "important" that it is a Black Woman? Somewhat. Is it important that it is a woman? Somewhat. I have "a great deal" of confidence he'll select "the right kind of person", though.

The way these poll questions are framed, is, as usual, pretty fucked up, and designed to bring out the most prejudicial responses.

rogue emissary

(3,352 posts)
13. The framing and responses was design to get a negative result.
Fri Feb 11, 2022, 02:16 PM
Feb 2022

The "not very" doesn't mean it has no importance to the respondents.

In fact, you could group the "not very" and the "very important" together and get 42% thought it was important to some degree against 36% that thought it wasn't important at all.

I recently saw a similar poll asking about COVID and they went out of their way to show a majority was against them. When you read the question and responses one group said they wanted some but not all mandates to continue.

The media is obsessed with negative news.

MacKasey

(1,519 posts)
15. They did not poll me, I think it's Great to nominate a black woman!
Fri Feb 11, 2022, 02:22 PM
Feb 2022

Having a black woman on the Supreme Court just might make Clarence Thomas retire!

Or even drive Ginni Thomas crazy!

ffr

(23,399 posts)
16. That's okay. We have a drunk white guy and an illiterate bimbo on there now.
Fri Feb 11, 2022, 02:25 PM
Feb 2022

And nobody but the 25% brainwashed idiots wanted them on the court. 55% is like a landslide.

RussBLib

(10,635 posts)
18. so what?
Fri Feb 11, 2022, 02:28 PM
Feb 2022

tired of polls. Biden promised to nominate a black woman and he will deliver on that. EOS.

Polling Americans puts you on shaky ground, as Americans are some of the dumbest, most-racist people on the planet. In the aggregate, of course.

Midnight Writer

(25,410 posts)
21. I'm with you. If you poll every change in America and abide by results, nothing would ever get done.
Fri Feb 11, 2022, 02:55 PM
Feb 2022

We need to lead from the front, not wait for favorable polls to give us permission.

 

jvill

(459 posts)
33. Hahah. What % of people felt it was important to get a pasty white "Boof King"...
Fri Feb 11, 2022, 05:57 PM
Feb 2022

… from the fanciest private schools on the court? I’d wager, it’s lower.

Black folks, and black women in particular, made Biden’s win possible, and they are the most disempowered established minority in this country. This is a no brainer.

 

rockfordfile

(8,742 posts)
36. I could see how they're saying that.
Fri Feb 11, 2022, 06:35 PM
Feb 2022

I confident when President Biden nominates that person will be fine judge. We remember trump putting up some judges that were junk.

cannabis_flower

(3,932 posts)
37. I don't think
Fri Feb 11, 2022, 07:00 PM
Feb 2022

He should have said he was going to do it. I think he should have just said he was going to nominate Someone qualified. When you say you are going to nominate any particular type of person someone gets triggered.

 

cadoman

(1,617 posts)
41. reflects that focusing on Black women is oddly specific
Fri Feb 11, 2022, 09:08 PM
Feb 2022

President Obama added diversity to the court without it feeling awkward. Just examine the basket of qualified candidates and pick one that isn't well represented currently.

If race and gender diversity are the two metrics to target improvement on, appointing a Hispanic/Latinx or Asian woman is actually the biggest diversity bang for the buck.

The current census data has us at:

# https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045221
White 60%
Hispanic or Latinx 19%
Black 13%
American Indian or Alaska Native 1%
Asian 6%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone < 1%
Two or more races 3%

So in terms of best matching that up to the Supreme Court, a Hispanic/Latinx woman would bring us most closely in line with the population, in fact if another of the white judges were replaced with an Asian man or woman it'd yield a nearly perfect match:

Alito
Thomas
ASIAN MAN OR WOMAN
HISPANIC/LATINX WOMAN
Sotomayor
Kavanaugh
Kagan
Gorsuch
Barrett

That'd yield a breakdown of:
White 56%
Hispanic or Latinx 22%
Black 11%
American Indian or Alaska Native 0%
Asian 11%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone 0%
Two or more races 0%

Asians are at a point where it's tough for them to be accurately represented, but given that they have zero historically, it feels like it's time they had a seat at the table.

EDIT: If there are multi-racial candidates that could help fill in some of the smaller percentage brackets in a fair way.

TheFarseer

(9,770 posts)
44. I will say
Sun Feb 13, 2022, 12:44 PM
Feb 2022

I’m really cautious against nominating someone that Lindsey Graham seems to LOVE ❤️ Really hoping it is not Michelle Childs.

Latest Discussions»Latest Breaking News»New poll: 55% of American...