Most American adults believe an “increased focus on race” brought about no meaningful change in the lives of black Americans since George Floyd’s death in police custody, a new poll shows.
Data from Pew Research Center indicate a profound loss of enthusiasm for the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement five years after anti-police protests swept the country, the organization reported Wednesday. Meanwhile, the reputation of police officers has improved despite the previous rise of policy agendas such as “defund the police,” Pew Research found.
The poll said 72% of American adults believe “the focus on race after George Floyd’s killing” in May 2020 “did not lead to changes” for black people, up from 57% in April 2023 and 46% who said it would not have that effect in September 2020. Only 27% in 2025 believed BLM “led to” such changes.
Support for the BLM movement among U.S. adults has dropped to 52% from 67% in June 2020, the survey said.
A little more than half of respondents also said black people’s relationship with police is “about the same” since 2020, while 33% said it is worse and the rest said it is better. Previous Pew Research surveys showed increasingly positive views toward police officers’ conduct on issues such as the use of force since 2020, the group noted.
The study comes after President Donald Trump returned to office and put several restrictions on the proliferation of left-wing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs utilizing public funds, which was one of the cultural trends that came with the BLM movement.
Demolition crews in Washington, D.C. also finished tearing down what was known as “Black Lives Matter Plaza” in March. Local officials had painted the road with the slogan to honor BLM protesters in the location where they lit a church on fire. D.C. unceremoniously removed the plaza’s symbolism after Republican critics in Congress threatened funding for the district.
Black Lives Matter Plaza in DC is obliterated with jackhammers, to little fanfare: pic.twitter.com/zK3oEbmpoB
— Natalie Sandoval (@NatalieIrene03) March 10, 2025
Conservatives widely criticized BLM ideology as a driver of violent rioting that brought 24 deaths and between $1 billion to $2 billion in property damage nationwide.
Though fewer Americans see the movement as profitable for society, leaders of the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation found it profitable for their budgets, with the group paying millions of dollars in charitable funds to firms owned by them or their family members, the Daily Caller News Foundation previously reported.
The study polled the thoughts of 5,097 American adults in February with a margin of error of 1.6% for the whole group.
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