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30% Say Black Lives Matter More Than All Lives

Belief that black lives matter more than all lives is up from five years ago, but most voters still put all lives first. Voters also still favor a Blue Lives Matter law in their state to protect the police.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 59% of Likely U.S. Voters believe all lives matter when asked which of the statements is closer to their own. But that’s down from 78% when we first asked this question in August 2015. Thirty percent (30%) say black lives matter, up from 11% in the previous survey. Nine percent (9%) say neither statement reflects their point of view. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

National Survey of 1,000 U.S. Likely Voters
Conducted June 15-16, 2020
By Rasmussen Reports

1* Which statement is closest to your own: black lives matter or all lives matter? Or does neither statement reflect your point of view?

2* Louisiana has adopted a so-called "Blue Lives Matter" law that makes attacks on police and first responders a hate crime and increases the penalties for such attacks. Do you favor or oppose a Blue Lives Matter law in your state?

NOTE: Margin of Sampling Error, +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence

Sixty percent (60%) of whites and 61% of other minority voters put all lives first. Among blacks, 44% say black lives matter; 47% all lives matter.

Fifty percent (50%) of all voters support a so-called Blue Lives Matter law in their state like the one in Louisiana that makes attacks on police and first responders a hate crime and increases the penalties for such attacks. Twenty-eight percent (28%) oppose such a law. That compares to 58% and 24% in mid-2016. A notable 22% are undecided.

The popularity of the Black Lives Matter movement has climbed dramatically after days of protest following the police killing of an unarmed black man in Minneapolis. Black Lives Matter is calling for defunding police departments nationwide and channeling that money into more social services. But most voters are opposed to cutting their local police budget.

Those under 40 are slightly more likely than their elders to put black lives first, but most voters in all age groups opt for all lives matter.

Forty-six percent (46%) of blacks favor a Blue Lives Matter law in their home state, compared to 51% of both whites and other minority voters.

Republicans (68%) are much more supportive of Blue Lives Matter legislation than Democrats (41%) and voters not affiliated with either major party (42%). But then while 72% of Republicans and 58% of unaffiliated voters put all lives first, Democrats are almost evenly divided.

Only 26% of those who say black lives matter is closer to their own thinking favor a Blue Lives Matter law in their state. Among those who put all lives first, 63% support such a law, along with a plurality (48%) of those who say neither statement reflects their point of view.

Twenty-eight percent (28%) of blacks – and 22% of all Americans – consider most Americans racist.

Surprisingly, cops fare slightly better. Twenty-three percent (23%) of blacks – and 16% of all Americans – think most cops are racist. But 67% of Americans rate the performance of their local police as good or excellent.

Sixty-nine percent (69%) of all voters continue to believe that most politicians raise racial issues just to get elected, not to solve real problems.

The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted June 15-16, 2020 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Criticism by Rudy Giuliani

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani said that Black Lives Matter is "inherently racist" and called the movement anti-American. According to Giuliani, the BLM movement divides people and exacerbates racial tensions. Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza replied, "What those comments show me is that the former mayor doesn't understand racism," adding that his comments were "not rooted in fact." Washington Post columnistJonathan Capehart wrote that Giuliani's comments reinforced his sense that the former mayor lives in a "racial world of make-believe".

Polls

The U.S. population's perception of Black Lives Matter varies considerably by race. According to a September 2015 poll on race relations, nearly two-thirds of African Americans mostly agree with Black Lives Matter, while 42% of white Americans are unsure or do not have an opinion about Black Lives Matter. Of white people surveyed, 41% thought that Black Lives Matter advocated violence, and 59% of whites thought that Black Lives Matter distracted attention from the real issues of racial discrimination. By comparison, 82% of black people polled thought that Black Lives Matter was a nonviolent movement, and 26% of blacks thought that Black Lives Matter distracted attention from the real issues of racial discrimination. On the question of whether "Black Lives Matter" was mostly a movement or mostly a slogan, 46% of whites and 67% of blacks thought that it is mostly a movement. A similar poll in June 2016 found that 65% of black American adults supported Black Lives Matter and 40% of white American adults support it. Fifty-nine percent of black Americans thought that Black Lives Matter would "be effective, in the long run, in helping blacks achieve equality" and 34% of white Americans thought so. A 2017 Harvard-Harris survey found that 35% of whites and 83% of blacks have a favorable view of the movement.

Muhammad Ali's son said his dad would not have supported George Floyd protests

Muhammad Ali Jr., the son of the boxing legend Muhammad Ali, told the New York Post in an hour-long interview that his father would not have supported the Black Lives Matter movement, calling it "racist."

Muhammad Ali’s son says dad would have hated ‘racist’ Black Lives Matter

On the fourth anniversary of his death, Muhammad Ali’s only biological son says that his father would be against Black Lives Matter, calling the movement “racist” and the protesters “devils.”

The legendary boxer and activist stood up against racism throughout his life, but Muhammad Ali Jr. says his dad would have been sickened by how the protests have turned to violence and looting after the death of George Floyd.

“Don’t bust up s–t, don’t trash the place,” he told The Post. “You can peacefully protest.

‘‘My father would have said, ‘They ain’t nothing but devils.’ My father said, ‘all lives matter.’ I don’t think he’d agree.

Muhammad Ali's son said his dad wouldn't have supported Black Lives Matter movement or protests over George Floyd's death
Connor Perrett
Jun 20, 2020, 1:44 PM

Muhammad Ali Jr. said his father, the legendary late boxer and activist Muhammad Ali wouldn't support Black Lives Matter.

Muhammad Ali Jr., the son of the late boxing icon Muhammad Ali, told The New York Post in an hour-long interview that his father wouldn't have supported the Black Lives Matter movement, calling it "racist."

Ali, who died aged 74 in 2016 as a result of complications of Parkinson's disease, was a known activist who in 1964 joined the Nation of Islam.

Ali Jr. said he believed his father would've supported the "all lives matter" movement, and thought the legendary boxer would've believed current protestors were "nothing but devils" after some demonstrations have turned destructive.

SNOPES wrote: 
Between 2002 and 2005, police arrested and charged Floyd for another four crimes: for having less than one gram of cocaine on him (on Oct. 29, 2002); for criminal trespassing (on Jan. 3, 2003); for intending to give less than one gram of cocaine to someone else (on Feb. 6, 2004); and for again having less than one gram of cocaine in his possession (on Dec. 15, 2005). He was sentenced to about 30 months in jail, total, for those crimes.

Lastly, in 2007, authorities arrested and charged Floyd with his most serious crime: aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon.

According to police officers’ probable-cause statement, which is often the basis of prosecutors’ case against suspects, the incident (on Aug. 9, 2007) unfolded like this: Two adults, Aracely Henriquez and Angel Negrete, and a toddler were in a home when they heard a knock at the front door. When Henriquez looked out the window, she saw a man “dressed in a blue uniform” who said “he was with the water department.” But when she opened the door, she realized the man was telling a lie and she tried shutting him out. Then, the statement reads:

However, this male held the door open and prevented her from doing so. At this time, a black Ford Explorer pulled up in front of the Complainants’ residence and five other black males exited this vehicle and proceeded to the front door. The largest of these suspects forced his way into the residence, placed a pistol against the complainant’s abdomen, and forced her into the living room area of the residence. This large suspect then proceeded to search the residence while another armed suspect guarded the complainant, who was struck in the head and side areas by this second armed suspect with his pistol after she screamed for help. As the suspects looked through the residence, they demanded to know where the drugs and money were and Complaint Henriquez advised them that there were no such things in the residence. The suspects then took some jewelry along with the complainant’s cell phone before they fled the scene in the black Ford Explorer.

About three months later, investigators in the Houston Police Department narcotics unit “came across this vehicle during one of the their respective investigations and identified the following subjects as occupants of this vehicle at the time of their investigation: George Floyd (Driver)…,” the statement reads.

At 6-foot-7, Floyd was identified as the “the largest” of the six suspects who arrived at the home in the Ford Explorer and had pushed a pistol against Henriquez’ abdomen before looking for items to steal. (Nothing in the court documents suggests she was pregnant at the time of the robbery, contrary to what memes and Owens later claimed.) He pleaded guilty in 2009 and was sentenced to five years in prison. He was paroled in January 2013, when he was almost 40 years old.

Pence on Black Lives Matter: "I really believe all lives matter"

BY MELISSA QUINN

JUNE 28, 2020 / 10:35 AM / CBS NEWS


Washington — Vice President Mike Pence defended his refusal to say "black lives matter" amid the surge of momentum for police reforms following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis last month, saying he disagrees with the political agenda being pushed by leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement.

"I really believe that all lives matter," Pence said on "Face the Nation" when pressed on why he won't say "black lives matter." "And that's where the heart of the American people lies."

Floyd's death after a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes sparked protests nationwide against police brutality and reignited calls for police reforms at the local and national levels, with "black lives matter" becoming the rallying cry against racism. While the vice president and President Trump have said Floyd's death is a tragedy, Pence declined to say "black lives matter" in an interview June 19, known as Juneteenth, which commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S.

When asked why he wouldn't say "black lives matter," Pence said that he cherishes "the progress that we have made toward a more perfect union for African Americans throughout our history."

"But what I see in the leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement is a political agenda of the radical left that would defund the police, that would tear down monuments, that would press a radical left agenda and support calls for the kind of violence that has beset the very communities that they say that they're advocating for," he said.

Pence said African American leaders have made clear to the Trump administration "they want law and order" and "peace in our streets."

"What I hear is while the radical left says we need to defund the police, what the American people want is for us to fund the police with additional training and support and also improve the lives of the people in our African American community, which I'm proud to say, under President Trump's leadership, we were doing over the last three years," he said.