… A new paper by Avidit Acharya, Matthew Blackwell, and Maya Sen has discovered that the proportion of enslaved residents in 1860—153 years ago—predicts race-related beliefs today. As the percent of the population in a county accounted for by the enslaved increases, there is a decreased likelihood that contemporary white […] Read more »
The Decline of Black Power in the South
To understand the depth of the damage that the Supreme Court’s June 25 decision, Shelby County v. Holder, has inflicted on the voting rights of African-Americans, you have to measure it against the backdrop of the takeover of state legislatures, primarily in the South, by the Republican Party. … The […] Read more »
Many Criticize Voting Rights Ruling; Partisan Splits on Gay Marriage Continue
Americans across racial groups are critical of the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Voting Rights Act, with disapproval of the decision exceeding approval by 15 percentage points among whites as well as by a vast 45-point margin among African-Americans. Overall, just 33 percent of Americans approve of the ruling dismantling […] Read more »
Washington Post-ABC poll shows support for Supreme Court rulings on gay marriage
Most Americans think the Supreme Court got it right last week in decisions that bolstered same-sex marriage, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. The court in a 5 to 4 ruling struck down a key component of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which withheld federal recognition […] Read more »
Support for gay marriage hits high after ruling
A record majority of Americans approve of same-sex marriage in the wake of two landmark Supreme Court decisions, a USA TODAY poll finds. But the high court’s rulings that struck down provisions of the Voting Rights Act and tightened the rules on affirmative action aren’t in sync with the public’s […] Read more »
Public Divided over Same-Sex Marriage Rulings
The public is divided over last week’s Supreme Court rulings on same-sex marriage: 45% approve of the court’s decisions, while 40% disapprove. The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center conducted June 27-30 among 1,003 adults, finds that most Americans are aware of the ruling and its implications. Two-thirds […] Read more »