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Confederate Flag Flop: Public Opinion Remains Unchanged From Where It Was 15 Years Ago
The PJ Tatler ^ | July 2, 2015 | Debra Heine

Posted on 07/03/2015 5:10:07 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

The latest polling shows that most Americans still view the Confederate flag as a symbol of Southern pride as opposed to racism — an opinion that has not significantly changed in 15 years.

After the last couple of weeks of anti-Confederate hysteria, you don’t have to be a fan of the rebel battle flag to appreciate that the public is basically shrugging their shoulders.

Via CNN:

American public opinion on the Confederate flag remains about where it was 15 years ago, with most describing the flag as a symbol of Southern pride more than one of racism, according to a new CNN/ORC poll. And questions about how far to go to remove references to the Confederacy from public life prompt broad racial divides.

The poll shows that 57% of Americans see the flag more as a symbol of Southern pride than as a symbol of racism, about the same as in 2000 when 59% said they viewed it as a symbol of pride. Opinions of the flag are sharply divided by race, and among whites, views are split by education.

Among African-Americans, 72% see the Confederate flag as a symbol of racism, just 25% of whites agree. In the South, the racial divide is even broader. While 75% of Southern whites describe the flag as a symbol of pride and 18% call it a symbol of racism, those figures are almost exactly reversed among Southern African-Americans, with just 11% seeing it as a sign of pride and 75% viewing it as a symbol of racism.

Among whites, there’s a sharp divide by education, and those with more formal education are less apt to see the flag as a symbol of pride. Among whites with a college degree, 51% say it’s a symbol of pride, 41% one of racism. Among those whites who do not have a college degree, 73% say it’s a sign of Southern pride, 18% racism.

President Barack Obama used the occasion of the funeral of Rev. Clementa Pinckney last week to agitate against the Confederate flag.

“For too long we were blind to the pain that the Confederate flag had stirred in too many of our citizens,” Obama said during the eulogy.

“It’s true a flag did not cause these murders, but as people from all walks of life … we all have to acknowledge, the flag has always represented more than just ancestral pride,” Obama said.

“Removing the flag from this state’s Capitol would not be an act of political correctness, it would not be an insult to the valor of Confederate soldiers, it would simply be an acknowledgement that the cause for which they fought, the cause of slavery, was wrong,” Obama said.

Since South Carolina Republican Gov. Nikki Haley had already called for removing the Confederate flag from the state Capitol grounds in the wake of the church massacre, it wasn’t necessary for the president to weigh in. Especially at a funeral. Yet he did, almost as if to give a wink and a nod to the ongoing left-wing pogrom against everything Confederate.

Full disclosure: As a Republican and a Northerner, I feel no nostalgia for the Confederate flag. I sympathize with those who see it as a symbol of racism, and think it’s entirely appropriate to take it down from the grounds of the state capitols.

Having said that, I can also sympathize with people who see the flag as a representation of the valor and tenacity of their ancestors who fought in the Civil War. I consider the left’s crusade to tear down the Confederate flag (and other Confederate symbols) all throughout the South to be another egregious example of their gross and unseemly totalitarian impulses.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: confederateflag; dixie; polls
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1 posted on 07/03/2015 5:10:07 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I am actually surprised the propaganda fails.

A wild glimmer of hope appears?


2 posted on 07/03/2015 5:12:44 PM PDT by Norm Lenhart
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Among African-Americans, 72% see the Confederate flag as a symbol of racism

I lnow only ONE African American personally

He was Born In NIgeria....and Immigrated here legally decades ago.

Hes now a straight ahead no BS Baptist Preacher...with NO interest in being “an”...”african-American” .


3 posted on 07/03/2015 5:12:56 PM PDT by MeshugeMikey ("Never, Never, Never, Give Up," Winston Churchill ><>)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

CNN will go wall-to-wall with polling results if they help push the agenda, and they can get early polling data within twelve hours if they want to.

I should have guessed the polling data wasn’t supporting the narrative because they haven’t been showing it.


4 posted on 07/03/2015 5:13:26 PM PDT by Steely Tom (Vote GOP: A Slower Handbasket)
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To: Norm Lenhart

Sadly, the ruling oligarchy will probably ignore this sentiment of the American people when charting policy — as it does all others.


5 posted on 07/03/2015 5:17:05 PM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

We will be proudly displaying ours tomorrow all day along with the Gadsden. Just to show we are not racists we are drinking Mexican beer. :-)


6 posted on 07/03/2015 5:17:09 PM PDT by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose o f a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped.)
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To: BenLurkin

Sure. But it still hurts the agenda.


7 posted on 07/03/2015 5:17:58 PM PDT by Norm Lenhart
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To: Norm Lenhart

Americans will not accept fascism


8 posted on 07/03/2015 5:18:11 PM PDT by knarf (I say things that are true .... I have no proof ... but they're true)
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To: knarf

Well, some of us won’t. Plenty of ...ahem...’Americans’ ARE the fascists. At least 30-40% worth. AKA the Dem/Libs and a pathetic number of GOP/their backers.

But you are right.. genuine “AMERICANS” won’t.


9 posted on 07/03/2015 5:20:51 PM PDT by Norm Lenhart
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Its only a symbol of racism to those who want to create a stereotype. That act in itself, btw is prejudiced and since it relates to southern whites only is also racist.


10 posted on 07/03/2015 5:23:37 PM PDT by pfflier
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To: Georgia Girl 2

I think I’ll run up the ole 100% cotton hand-sewn battle flag with its super-rich red tomorrow morning. I would usually fly the 15-star-15-stripe Star Spangled Banner but I’m sick of the trendy set piling-on the Confederate flag.


11 posted on 07/03/2015 5:27:25 PM PDT by Monterrosa-24 (...even more American than a French bikini and a Russian AK-47.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Isn’t it revealing they can’t just let it rest with 57% finding the flag to represent pride vs racism. They seem to think they’ll make big points if they toss in higher education.

Tell you what, folks with less education will be smart enough to know why the folks with more education think the flag is racist. They’ve attended a university where everything is politicized.

I’m shocked it isn’t 0% of the people who attended a university thinking the flag is simply for southern pride.

The Left must be aghast at all the effort they put in to brainwash college students, and they sill can’t convince more than 41% that the Dixie flag stands for racism.

What a massive fail!


12 posted on 07/03/2015 5:27:31 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (Conservatism: Now home to liars too. And we'll support them. Yea... GOPe)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Until the south rises again the communists of America will destroy their history. Nothing new here.


13 posted on 07/03/2015 5:29:51 PM PDT by Logical me
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To: Monterrosa-24

Yep. We only fly the Gadsden and Dixie.


14 posted on 07/03/2015 5:32:16 PM PDT by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose o f a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped.)
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To: MeshugeMikey
I think its funny. Kid Rock played in Hartford CT last week. LOL


15 posted on 07/03/2015 5:33:33 PM PDT by cripplecreek (Sad fact, most people just want a candidate to tell them what they want to hear)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I’m a proud Southerner and pretty much don’t give a rats patookie what anyone thinks.

Joined Sons of Confederate Veterans several years ago after obtaining enlistment/muster role records for two GG Grandads who fought the Northern aggressors out of Haywood co. NC. Loves company no less.

Got SCV stickers on both my trucks, got my battle flag, beer, bible and shotgun.

So...progressive yanks, liberals, commies, greenie winnies, feral gubbamint...go take a long walk on a short peer. My land is my kingdom, dare ya come take my flag down.


16 posted on 07/03/2015 5:37:38 PM PDT by servantboy777
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To: cripplecreek

I love that. I don’t guess Rob got the message.

Huge supporter of our troops by the way!


17 posted on 07/03/2015 5:43:41 PM PDT by rikkir (Anyone still believe the 8/08 Atlantic cover wasn't 100% accurate?)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Well, I see president Obuma as a symbol of hate and racism. Let’s remove him and all vestiges of his bitter, racist policies.


18 posted on 07/03/2015 5:44:57 PM PDT by sergeantdave
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To: rikkir

Funny thing about Detroit, most of the whites in Detroit are hillbillies even after generations there.


19 posted on 07/03/2015 5:49:41 PM PDT by cripplecreek (Sad fact, most people just want a candidate to tell them what they want to hear)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
All this Confederate flag stuff reminded me of all the great times I had listening to southern rock in college; Charlie Daniels, Allman Brothers, Marshall Tucker, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Outlaws, Little Feat.
I am a Yankee but went to college below the Mason-Dixon Line. The most polite friendly people I ever met were rural southerners. I spent lots of time shooting pool in road side bars with my college buddies and we never had any problems with the locals.
The most obnoxious rudest people I ever met were and still are northeastern elitists. There are lots of segregated neighborhoods in the "deep north".
20 posted on 07/03/2015 5:51:53 PM PDT by Kid Shelleen (Beat your plowshares into swords. Let the weak say I am strong)
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