Most South Carolina residents no longer support the Confederate flag nor believe it should be flown over the statehouse grounds in Columbia, according to a new survey.
Winthrop University conducted a survey and found that 66 percent of South Carolinians support the state government’s decision to remove the Confederate flag from the statehouse grounds. What’s more, the majority of Republicans believe it was the right decision at 50 percent.
The survey also found that 54 percent of white South Carolinians and 93 percent of black South Carolinians said that removing the flag was the correct decision. The total number is a huge turnaround from the previous. Overall, 61 percent of South Carolinians supported the flag in November 2014. One year later, only 30 percent of South Carolina residents support flying the flag.
Pollsters believe the drastic change in opinion occurred because of the national conservation and opposition to those who supported the flag.
“The Confederate flag debate in South Carolina might have increased the social stigma of supporting the flag,” said pollster Scott Clement. “Supporters of keeping the flag were shamed during debates, and the idea of the Confederate flag as a symbol of racism was a core argument of the debate.”
Although political and racial divisions are still present in the Confederate flag debate, this radical change in opinion demonstrates that social change is always possible.
For more on this story, visit the Huffington Post “South Carolina Residents Turn Against The Confederate Flag.”
