Confederate Flag

A new poll in South Carolina shows that the racial divide is exacerbated by the decision to fly the Confederate flag, nearly 150 years after the end of the Civil War and nearly a decade after a bitter feud ended with the flag being moved to the State House’s grounds from atop its dome, according to a survey published by Herald Online that interviewed a grand total of 852 participants.

According to the survey, most whites say the rebel banner should continue flying on the State House grounds; most African Americans say it should be removed, according to an exclusive Winthrop poll asked for The State. Due to the way that the survey is phrased, it’s not clear the number of respondents of each race, and if anyone who was not white or black was surveyed. The age range of the survey participants is also is not specified.

So pardon me if I believe the survey was purposefully skewed to make a nice editorial about how everyone is a-ok with the Confederate flag flying.

According to the survey results (which again, do not explain how the survey respondents were selected and only includes the opinions of 852 residents) 61% South Carolinians said the flag should continue to fly where it is, while 33% say it should not.

When broken down by race, three out of four whites – 73% – said the flag should continue flying, while 51% of black respondents said it should come down.

In the year 2000, there was a heated fight over the flag’s placement at the State House.

Nearly 46,000 protesters lobbied for its removal.

6,000 flag supporters counter-protested for it to stay in place.

It’s hard to imagine that the 6,000 people that mobilized against the flag really represented a silent majority, and the 46,000 protesters were actually a small minority.

Did I mention that the survey results and subsequent article seemed a little sympathetic and skewed?

By Hypatia Livingston

"Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better than not to think at all."Writer, thinker, researcher, philosopher.

3 thoughts on “South Carolina Still Divided Over Confederate Flag”
  1. I can’t even begin to count how many people I know that run around hanging this flag in the back of their truck and have no idea what is represents. I hate the idea of living in the past and this is exactly what the flag still does. Rubbing salt into the wounds.

    1. I agree, I have seen the confederate flag all over the place and most people do not know what it represents. I feel that the flag should be removed from the State House grounds and maybe placed in a historical museum as a reminder of what happened in the past and how different our future is now.

      1. I think some people just don’t have a clue anymore. No one seems to care about the history unless it directly deals with their family so for many people they don’t see it as a problem. I do. I mean I don’t want to forget history but I don’t want to be reminded of the bad every chance I get either.

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