Jonathan Easley, The Hill, August 2, 2017

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Overall, 43 percent of voters have a positive view of Black Lives Matter, compared with 57 percent who have a negative view of the movement, the latest Harvard-Harris survey found.

Only 35 percent of whites have a favorable view of the movement, while 83 percent of blacks have a favorable view.

Twenty-one percent of Republicans have a positive view of the movement. That figure dips to 18 percent among those who voted for President Trump.

Meanwhile, 65 percent of Democrats and 66 percent of those who voted for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton support the movement.

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The Harvard-Harris online survey of 2,051 registered voters was conducted between July 19 and July 24. The partisan breakdown is 37 percent Democrat, 31 percent Republican, 27 percent independent and 4 percent other. Sixty-five percent of respondents were white, 14 percent Hispanic and 12 percent black or African-American.

The poll found that 50 percent of voters overall believe the criminal justice system is unfair to minorities, and 50 percent believe it’s fair.

Among black voters, 85 percent said there is bias in the criminal justice system, while 60 percent of white voters said the system is fair to minorities.

A majority — 56 percent — believes the police are too quick to resort to force in encounters with citizens, including 57 percent of whites.

And 54 percent say the police are too quick to shoot African-Americans, although here, only 45 percent of whites agree.

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A majority, 54 percent, said the police are held accountable for misconduct. Among blacks, only 23 percent agreed.

Seventy-five percent, including two-thirds of African-Americans surveyed, said more attention is paid to police behavior than to gangs or crime. Nearly 90 percent said that scrutiny has triggered more violence against the police.

And 62 percent said the focus on police behavior has handcuffed law enforcement officials by discouraging them from doing their jobs, although only 44 percent of blacks agreed.

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