New Poll: Nearly 75% of Americans See George Floyd’s Death as Part of Racial Injustice Problem

An overwhelming majority of Americans believe George Floyd’s death is part of a broader problem of racial injustice. This number is significant because it represents a huge shift in public attitudes toward racial issues over the past six years.

A new ABC News/Ipsos poll shows that 74% of Americans see Floyd’s death as an aspect of ‘an underlying racial injustice problem’ in the United States. This finding has been echoed, at least anecdotally, by many white Americans who’ve been involved in the protests.

This number represents a staggering rise of 30% in just six years. In a 2014 poll following the shooting of Michael Brown and death of Eric Garner, just 43% of respondents said those deaths were a result of racial injustice, while 51% said they were isolated incidents.

In the poll released on Friday, just 26% believed Floyd’s death was an isolated incident. These numbers appear to represent a sea change in public attitudes. Moreover, this belief cuts across all racial groups, with 70% of whites and 94% of blacks agreeing his death is linked to racial injustice.

A majority of Republicans – 55% – also think Floyd’s death is part of a racial problem, while 92% of Democrats and 71% of independents do also. If these numbers are consistent, they could be the basis of real change after years of failure to tackle the deaths of African Americans at the hands of police.