Sunday, November 13, 2011

Impact of Affirmative Action

Only a small fraction of the public (16%) reports having been directly affected by affirmative action programs. Overall, 11% say they’ve been hurt, 4% have been helped. Among blacks, 14% say they have been helped by such programs, while 5% say they’ve been hurt. Among other non-whites, about equal numbers have been helped (11%) and hurt (13%).

Most Hispanics say they’ve been unaffected , but 4% say affirmative action has helped them and 8% say it’s hurt them. By a margin of 13% to 2%, whites say they’ve been hurt rather than helped ­ and more white men (17%) than women (9%) say this. As many white liberals as conservatives say they’ve been hurt.
A significant number of people ­ though much less than a majority ­ perceive that affirmative action programs stigmatize minorities. Overall, 27% of Americans ­ including 26% of whites and 37% of blacks ­ say that most people attribute minorities’ successes in business and education to racial preferences, rather than their own skills and abilities.


Source: Pew Research Center

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