MTV Survey: 88% of Millennials Oppose Race-Based Affirmative Action

Millennials are the most diverse generation in American history, and they overwhelmingly oppose race-based affirmative action. 

An MTV survey of millennials between 14 and 24 years of age found that 88% of millennials oppose affirmative action because they “believe that favoring one race over another is unfair” and “90% believe that everyone should be treated the same regardless of race.” There was “was no statistical difference by race for” these responses. 

The Supreme Court recently upheld Michigan’s voter-approved ban on affirmative action while Hispanic and black legislators in California are vowing to reinstitute affirmative action even though the University of California (UC) system admitted a record number of Hispanics, who also outnumbered whites, this year.  The Latino Legislative Caucus in California is even making it a top item on its legislative agenda. 

In addition, 70% (74% of whites and 65% of minorities) of millennials surveyed believe “it’s never fair to give preferential treatment to one race over another, regardless of historical inequalities.” 

The survey also found that 67% of millennials believe America is still divided even though there is a black president, and whites and minorities showed considerable difference on other questions. For instance, 48% of whites believe that “discrimination against white people has become as big a problem as discrimination against racial minority groups” while only 27% of minorities do. When asked whether “white people have more opportunities today than racial minority groups,” 39% of whites agreed while 65% of minorities felt whites were more advantaged. And when asked whether the “government pays too much attention to the problems of racial minority groups,” 41% of whites agreed while only 21% of minorities did.  

MTV partnered with David Binder Research on the study that was “designed to understand and measure how young people are experiencing, affected by and responding to issues associated with bias.” Interviews were conducted in February and April among 3,000 individuals between 14 and 24 years of age.