According to a new poll released by Quinnipiac University Wednesday, 55% of the over 3,000 American voters surveyed feel that affirmative action should be abolished.
The poll found that over 70% of voters said that diversity is not a good enough reason to give minorities preferential treatment in competition for government or private sector jobs.
Voters were more lenient when it comes to the disabled, with 55% approving of affirmative action for the disabled when it comes to hiring, promotions and college admissions.
When it came to race, however, 64% opposed giving Hispanics preferential treatment, 61% opposed African Americans getting preferential treatment and 62% opposed white women getting special treatment. The last group represented a mix of race and gender coming into play concerning opposition to preferential treatment.
"Whether it's a belief that the statute of limitations on past wrongs has run out or economic pressures on workers, programs that supporters call affirmative action and opponents label racial preferences are unpopular with most American voters," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
The poll also found that most voters are opposed to sexual preference leading to special treatment, with 65% saying they oppose giving preference to gays and lesbians in hiring, promotions and college admissions.
Brown said the poll is significant in that it shows "the public clearly opposes the idea that such programs are justified as a way of increasing diversity, which has become the rationale in recent years as opposed to compensating for past discrimination which was the reason when they first began."
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April 10, 2026 16:21 ET Inflation data from the U.S. was the main data event this week as the conflict in the Middle East continue. The minutes of the latest Fed policy session and the survey data on the services sector also made headlines. In Europe, manufacturing orders data from Germany was in focus. Price data from China drew attention in Asia.