Poll: 1 in 5 supports Confederate flag

Following the racially charged shooting at a South Carolina church, nearly two-thirds of Americans believe the Confederate flag should be removed from all government buildings.

However, 1 out of ever 5 Americans still support the public display of the Confederate flag, according to a new poll from the left-leaning Center for American Progress Action Fund. 

The controversy over the Confederate flag was reignited by last week’s mass shooting at a predominantly black church in Charleston, S.C.

Dylann Storm Roof, a 21-year-old white man who had ties to a hate group that supports white nationalism, allegedly killed nine church members at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church.

The shooting is believed to have been racially motivated, authorities say.

It has revived the debate over whether South Carolina’s government should hang the Confederate flag, as it does at a memorial honoring Confederate soldiers near the State House.

According to the Center for American Progress poll of 645 registered voters released Monday, 64 percent of Americans say no government building should display the Confederate flag, which many see as a symbol of hatred and racism.

Meanwhile, more than 500,000 people have signed a petition to remove the Confederate flag from all government buildings.

Others see the Confederate flag as a symbol not of racism, but of Southern pride. In fact, 21 percent of Americans support government buildings hanging the flag, according to the poll.

Fifteen percent of Americans say they are undecided.

“The Confederate flag represents an America that should no longer exist, divides our country and fuels violent acts like those in Charleston last week,” said Chelsea Parsons, vice president of guns and crime policy at the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

The center interviewed 636 registered voters between June 19 and June 20 for the poll, which has a 3.9-percentage-point margin of error.