The legacy of the Confederacy, as well as commemorations in public spaces to its leaders, continues to divide the U.S. – primarily along racial, political and religious lines, according to a report published Sept. 28 by Public Religion Research Institute.
“Race, religion, and political affiliation strongly color the lens through which Americans view our past and its legacy today,” said Robert P. Jones, president and founder of PRRI, in a Sept. 28 press release about the report. “Yet, the broad support for honest conversations about our shared history, repairing the damages of historic racism, and reimagining our public spaces to embrace everyone can offer a road map for how and what our communities choose to honor in the future.”
Overall, 51% of U.S. adults would like to retain Confederate memorials and monuments, with 46% supporting their removal. The divide is significant when analyzing responses based on party affiliation, race and religious affiliation.
A strong majority (85%) of Republicans want to preserve the legacy of the Confederacy via monuments, compared to 46% of Independents and 26% of Democrats. Among white Republicans, 87% support such preservation, compared to 23% of Democrats.
Retaining memorials and statues of the Confederacy is supported by 57% of white respondents, compared to 55% of Hispanic and 23% of Black respondents.
White Evangelical Protestants (76%) are the most likely religious group to favor such preservation efforts, followed by white mainline Protestants (65%), Latter-day Saints (65%), Hispanic Catholics (63%), white Catholics (60%), Hispanic Protestants (58%), other Protestants of color (49%) and Black Protestants (29%).
Among non-Christian traditions, only 34% of Jewish Americans, 35% of people from other non-Christian faiths, and 33% of the religiously unaffiliated support preserving the legacy of the Confederacy through monuments and statues.
The nation is equally divided on the meaning of the Confederate flag, with 50% saying it is mostly about Southern pride and 47% saying that it is primarily a symbol of racism.
Most Republicans (83%) say the flag is a symbol of Southern pride, compared to 48% of Independents and 25% of Democrats. Nearly six in 10 white adults (58%) view the Confederate flag this way, compared to 48% of Hispanic, 43% of multi-racial adults, 35% of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and 16% of Black adults.
More respondents say they “feel a sense of pride when I see public art of monuments that celebrate the diversity of community” (76% completely / mostly agree) than those who say, “I feel a sense of pride when I see statues or monuments that honor Confederate leaders or soldiers” (21% completely / mostly agree).
Republicans (38%) were more likely than Independents (16%) or Democrats (14%) to affirm a sense of pride at seeing Confederate monuments, while Democrats (88%) were more likely than Independents (79%) or Republicans (65%) to feel a sense of pride when seeing monuments of diversity.
There is no consensus regarding what should be done with Confederate memorials and monuments. A plurality (35%) feel they should remain in place “with added information about the history of slavery and racism,” while 28% want them removed and placed in museums, 26% say “they should be left in place as they are now” and 10% want them removed and destroyed.
Half of Republicans (49%) support leaving the monuments as they are, while a plurality of Democrats (44%) would like them moved to museums and a plurality of Independents (37%) say contextual information should be added to them.
A plurality of Black respondents (39%) support placing Confederate monuments in museums, while a plurality of white respondents (37%) say they should remain in place with information about slavery and racism.
A majority of Black respondents support the removal of such monuments (39% to museums and 25% to be destroyed), while a majority of white respondents support keeping the monuments (37% with context and 30% as they are).
A plurality of Black Protestants (40%), religiously unaffiliated (38%), other non-Christians (37%), Jewish respondents (34%) and other Christians (33%) support removing Confederate monuments to museums.
By comparison, a plurality of Latter-day Saints (44%) Hispanic Catholic (41%), Hispanic Protestants (41%), white Catholics (40%), white mainline Protestants (40%) and other Protestants of color (40%) would like the monuments to remain with added context.
A plurality (44%) of white evangelical Protestants say the Confederate monuments should be left in place without any changes or added context.
The full report is available here. The topline results are available here. The overall margin of error is plus or minus 1.7 percentage points.
Managing editor for news and opinion at Good Faith Media.
