Polls on the Flag

We've heard a lot about what the media, business, and political classes think about the flag issue. What we haven't heard about is what the people of South Carolina think. The last time this issue was decided it was done by a deeply contentious debate in which both sides argued their positions forcefully, and when compromise was finally reached they locked it in with a guarantee that it would only be altered if there was a 2/3rds majority vote in favor.

It looks like we're close to that.
Am I right that this is the first major poll taken since the beginning of Flagmania last week?... The crosstabs unfortunately don’t break down the numbers by region and race. It’s useful to know what white Americans and black Americans think, and it’s useful to know what southerners think compared to people from other regions. But there’s no way to tell how white southerners differ from black southerners on this subject, apart from a tidbit that YouGov discloses in its summary: White southerners continue to tilt heavily in favor of seeing the flag as a symbol of southern pride rather than racism, 53/20. Among black Americans generally (not just southerners), the split on the same question is … 3/70.
I don't know what a 'major poll' is, but there's another one more focused on South Carolina that's posted in the last day.
Sixty percent of likely voters surveyed by Rassmussen Reports said the flag should not be displayed at the South Carolina capitol, while 21 percent said it should. Eighteen percent are undecided.... A plurality of Republican voters (46 percent) said the flag should not fly at the statehouse, and a majority (76 percent) of Democrats agree. Although the majority of likely voters agree the flag should not fly there, they are split on whether it is a symbol of Southern heritage (43 percent) or hatred (39 percent).... Party lines also correlate with differing interpretations of what the Confederate flag represents. A majority of Republicans (64 percent) said it represents Southern heritage, while a majority of Democrats (57 percent) said it is a symbol of hatred.
That sounds like an adequate apology for the Republican majority legislature to go ahead with it. It's a complete concession by one side of the old debate, however: not a new compromise, but a surrender of the position. I hope this is received as I am sure it is intended: as a gift of something precious to the conceding side, intended to show honor and respect for the victims of the recent shooting, and to their community which has responded so gracefully.

2 comments:

raven said...

" I hope this is received as I am sure it is intended: as a gift of something precious to the conceding side, intended to show honor and respect for the victims of the recent shooting, and to their community which has responded so gracefully."

They always want more. Any concession is just a step to the ultimate goal.

Grim said...

Maybe, but nobody has made any concessions yet. So far we've just seen acts of power. The governor of Alabama can just remove things by fiat, and not even mention having done it. (When asked, he said -- this is true -- that he didn't want it to become a distraction because "I've got taxes to raise." That's like Sheriff of Nottingham talk, or, for that matter, Boss Hogg). The National Park Service today demanded removal of Confederate flags from the gift shops at Gettysburg. Amazon, Ebay, Walmart, they're acting on their own private property, as is Warner Brothers when it says there will be no more Duke Boys.

What really matters -- the only thing that matters -- is what the People do. Where are their hearts? And right now, at least, it seems as if they are mostly willing to endure this out of respect for the tragedy of the moment. That's very decent, and I hope at some point someone will recognize the decency of it. I doubt it, of course, because their opponents can't imagine their position: their opponents think they are racists who are finally having the decency to be ashamed of themselves, rather than seeing their enemies as they really are.