Elon poll: Most NC residents support Confederate monuments in public places

Of the 1,467 residents surveyed, 65% said Confederate monuments should stay on public, government-owned property, with 35% saying they should be removed.

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Thirty-six percent of respondents said removing Confederate monuments from public property hurts race relations, and 25% said removing the monuments helps race relations.

Of black residents who responded, 73% said Confederate monuments should be removed from public property.

The poll surveyed 1,036 white residents, 326 black residents and 106 residents of other races or of multiple races.

According to 2018 Census data, 71% of North Carolina residents are white, and 22% are black.

The results were released Wednesday, hours after a Confederate statue and its base were removed from downtown Pittsboro. The statue had stood outside the Chatham County courthouse since it was donated by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1907.

The Elon poll also asked residents how they thought slavery’s legacy affects African Americans in 2019.

Sixty-three percent of residents who said the legacy has impacts African Americans today “a great deal” said Confederate monuments should be removed, whereas 92% of residents who don’t believe African Americans are impacted by slavery’s legacy think the monuments should remain on public property.

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Seventy-three percent of respondents said it would be good to add plaques with historical context to the monuments.

Respondents were nearly split in half about the main cause of the Civil War: 44% said it was slavery, and 49% said it was about states’ rights.