Pew poll: Wider partisan than racial divides on civil rights and removing the confederate flag

[pampango]

But not only do the long-standing gaps between blacks and whites remain (86% of blacks now say the country needs to continue to change, compared with 53% of whites), significant partisan and ideological divides on this question also persist.



Most Americans (57%) support the recent decision by South Carolina’s government to remove the flag from the statehouse grounds; 34% see this as the wrong decision. Though majorities of whites (56%), blacks (76%) and Hispanics (52%) say the flag’s removal was the right decision, there are more substantial partisan divides: Fully 74% of Democrats say this was the right decision, while Republicans are more divided (43% right decision, 49% wrong decision).

Partisan reactions to the flag differ as well. Nearly half of Democrats react negatively (47%) to the display of the flag, while about as many (42%) have no particular reaction (just 8% say they have a positive reaction). Among liberal Democrats, however, reaction to the flag is even more negative: Fully 68% have a negative response to seeing the flag displayed, compared with just half as many (34%) conservative and moderate Democrats.

Among Republicans and independents, majorities (63% each) have no particular reaction to seeing the flag displayed. Among independents, those who do have a reaction are more likely to say that reaction is negative than positive (23% vs. 12%). But among Republicans, the balance of opinion is reversed: 23% say they have a positive reaction, 12% a negative one. The share of Republicans who say they have a positive reaction is up eight points (from 15%) since 2011.

http://www.people-press.org/2015/08/05/across-racial-lines-more-say-nation-needs-to-make-changes-to-achieve-racial-equality/