History Cited as Main Reason Confederate Flag Should Fly Among the 34% who say South Carolina made the wrong decision to remove flag, main creason why... (%)
Among those who oppose the flag’s removal, by far the most common reason people cite is that the flag is an important part of history and a symbol of heritage and pride: 54% describe their feelings in these terms. About a quarter (27%) of those who say the decision to take the flag down was wrong say that the flag is misunderstood or does not represent racism and slavery. A smaller share (17%) mention that the flag itself is harmless and removing it was unnecessary, while 15% view the decision as an overreaction to the Charleston event and 12% express concern that the decision to take down the flag represents government overreach or impinges on freedom of speech and expression.
History Cited as Main Reason  | Confederate Flag Should Fly  | Among the 34% who say South Carolina made the  | wrong decision to remove flag, main creason why... (%)  | History and pride  | 54  | Misunderstood/Not  | 27  | symbol of tracism/slavery  | Flag is harmless/  | 17  | removing it unnecessary  | Overreaction to  | 15  | Charleston events  | Concern about rights  | 12  | Survey conducted July 14-20 2015 Open-ended question Total  | Survey exceeds conducted 100% because July 14-20 of multiplere.soosses. 2015 Open-ended  | PEW RESEARCH CENTER 