My guess is most people don't want to say yes to _everything_ on a survey because it's equivalent to not answering. So it's unsurprising that this would come out low when lumped in with academics. When asked straight up about race I'd imagine the response would be stronger. But of course that's just a hypothesis.

The survey specifically asks about racial discrimination. There is indeed more widespread support for "affirmative action", but not race-based affirmative action. I don't think the supreme court is going to strike down policies favoring first generation college students or low income students, only those focused on race.