NFL players who kneel during the national anthem this season will have the backing of most Americans.
That’s the finding of a Yahoo News/YouGov poll, which found that 52 percent of Americans answered yes to the question, “Is it OK for NFL players to kneel during the national anthem to protest police killings of African Americans?” The poll found 36 percent of Americans answered no and the rest were not sure.
This poll shows a significant increase in support for players kneeling compared to the last time the question was asked. In 2018, another Yahoo News/YouGov poll found only 35 percent agreed with kneeling to protest.
Democrats are much more likely than Republicans to be OK with players protesting: 77 percent of Democrats said they were OK with it, compared to only 20 percent of Republicans. Protesters have the support of 77 percent of blacks, 57 percent of Hispanics and 47 percent of whites. Americans age 18-29 are strongly supportive, with 68 percent saying they support the protesters, while only 36 percent of Americans over 65 support the protests.
The increase of support comes after NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell acknowledged that the league had not done enough to support its players’ protests. This poll suggests that the majority of Americans will be glad the NFL has come around to supporting its players.