Poll Reveals Enough Support in S. Carolina to Bring Down Confederate Flag

A new survey reveals 33 senators and 83 House members would vote to have the Confederate flag removed from Statehouse grounds - more than likely enough to meet the two-thirds majority required to pass a bill.

The survey was conducted by The Post and Courier newspaper, the South Carolina Press Association and the Associated Press.

The debate over the flag's removal was inflamed after photos emerged of Dylann Storm Roof — the gunman who killed nine African-Americans at a church in Charleston — posing with the flag. Some southerners consider the flag to symbolize tradition and heritage, but for many nationwide, it's a symbol of racist ideology.

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley called for the removal of the Confederate flag from its location in front of the State legislature; however, this can only be done with the approval of two-thirds of that body.

The House has since filed two bills regarding the flag, and the Senate sent a bipartisan bill to the chamber floor for debate, which will likely be taken up on Monday.

Previously, a poll from Winthrop University found that 73% of whites in the state want the flag to remain where it is. The same poll reported that 61% of blacks want it taken down.

Several legislators suggest either taking the flag down completely or having it sent to the state's Confederate Relic Room & Military Museum. Another option has been floated, wherein the current flag would be replaced with another one from the Civil War era that does not resemble the Confederate flag.

The Confederate States of America was an unrecognized confederation of states in the southern region of the United States, formed in 1861 in opposition to Abraham Lincoln's presidential platform against the expansion of slavery.