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Elon Poll: Majority Wants Confederate Monuments To Remain In Place

A Confederate statue in downtown Winston-Salem that was removed by city officials in March. KERI BROWN/WFDD

A new poll from Elon University finds most people surveyed want to keep Confederate monuments in public spaces. 

Two-thirds of respondents said that the monuments and statues should remain in public places such as parks, city squares, and courthouses, while 35 percent said they should be moved.

77 percent of whites responded that they should stay compared to 27 percent of African Americans.

The poll also asked about what individuals believed to be the main cause of the Civil War. Jason Husser, Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the Elon University Poll, says the answer was pretty much split between states' rights and slavery. 

“Those who think the Civil War was about slavery tended to say that monuments glorified what the Confederacy fought for, which in their words was slavery," he says. "Those who said that the Civil War was about states' rights tended to talk about monuments in terms of helping people to understand history or honoring Confederates who died.”

The online poll was taken by nearly 1,500 people and was conducted in early November.

Bethany joined the staff of WFDD in the fall of 2012. She received her B.A. and M.A. in English Literature from Wake Forest University and focused on Anglo-Irish writing. Between undergraduate studies and graduate school, Bethany served as the intern to Talk of the Nation at NPR in D.C., participating in live NPR Election Night Coverage, Presidential debate broadcasts, regular Talk of the Nation shows, and helping to plan the inaugural broadcast of ‘Talk of the World.' She enjoys engaging with her interests in books, politics, and art in the interdisciplinary world of public radio. Before becoming Assistant News Director, Bethany was a reporter and Associate Producer for WFDD's Triad Arts and Triad Arts Weekend. Originally from Jacksonville, Florida, Bethany enjoys calling the Piedmont home.

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