Poll: Majority sees Confederate flag as Southern pride symbol, not racist

http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/02/politics/confederate-flag-poll-racism-southern-pride/index.html

With malice toward none, with charity for all, ...let us strive on to finish the work we are in, ...to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.

Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address, Mar. 4, 1865

Yeah it’s about heritage not hate. It’s about reconciliation with our fellow countrymen, like President Lincoln said. Must we keep reminding the South that they got beat? Keep rubbing their collective noses in their defeat?  How will that unify the country and heal the old wounds? The war is long over; slavery was abolished and the country reunified. Republicans fought against the stars and bars and Democrats fought for it. Yet the Democrats get to blame the racism of the Confederacy on the Republican party now. What's up with that? Plus the “Confederate Flag” with the crossed stars and bars that people are referring to is the Battle Flag of The Army of Northern Virginia, General Robert E. Lee’s outfit, not the National Flag of the Confederate States of America. So it represents the fighting men of the South and not the Confederate government. You can admire the skill and valor of the Confederate soldiers while still vehemently opposing the cause for which they fought.

Washington (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.