A clear majority of Americans want to keep Confederate statues, according to a Monday poll.
Fifty-seven percent of Americans surveyed think Confederate memorials should remain in public areas, a figure more than twice as large as the 26 percent who think they should be removed, according to a survey conducted by Reuters, Ipsos, and the University of Virginia Center for Politics.
Anti-monument Americans indicated that their opinions on the issue had changed more recently than those of pro-statue Americans, with one-third of them pointing to either the Charlottesville riot or South Carolina’s 2015 decision to take the Confederate flag down from its statehouse as the factor fueling their shift.
While 77 percent, 65 percent, and 52 percent of Americans polled opposed neo-Nazism, white nationalism, and the alt-right, respectively, only 39 percent and 37 percent opposed Antifa and Black Lives Matter.
The poll also queried Americans about issues such as political correctness, multiculturalism, and the white European heritage of the country. Nearly 60 percent of poll participants deemed political correctness a threat to free speech; less than a third of that figure disagreed with the notion. Nearly 80 percent agreed with the idea that Americans must defend its multicultural heritage, with only 5 percent dissenting. Surveyed Americans split on the defense and maintenance of America’s white European heritage; 31 percent agreed that it should be defended, 34 percent disagreed.
The survey accounted for the opinions of approximately 5,360 American adults, 2,255 of whom were Democrats and 1,915 of whom were Republicans. An August poll found that 62 percent of Americans surveyed wanted to keep the Confederate statues in public and 27 percent believed they should be removed. (RELATED: POLL: Most Voters Want Confederate Statues To Remain)
The Daily Caller News Foundation reached out to Ipsos for comment, but received none in time for press.
Follow Rob Shimshock on Twitter
Connect with Rob Shimshock on Facebook
Send tips to rob@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.