Around New England

Liberal Newspaper Posts Online Poll Asking If Confederate Flag Should ‘Be Banned in U.S.’

June 12, 2020

The web site of The Portsmouth Herald in New Hampshire has posted an online poll asking readers if the Confederate flag should be banned in the United States.

The battle flag of the Confederate States of America, long a symbol of the South, has been banned recently by branches of the U.S. armed forces amid protests and riots triggered by the death of George Floyd in Minnesota at the hands of a white police officer.

The Confederate battle flag has been used as a symbol of nonconformity and resistance.

It has also been used by anti-black groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, and by segregationists in the South resisting integration.

Yet it was mainstream enough in the 1970s and 1980s to be featured prominently in a popular television show called The Dukes of Hazzard, which centered on two brothers who drove around in an orange Dodge Charger with a large Confederate battle flag painted on the roof.

A 1969 Dodge Charger called the ‘General Lee’ featured prominently in a popular television show called The Dukes of Hazzard from 1979 to 1985, including the Confederate flag on the roof. Photo by sv1ambo, courtesy of Flickr.

The Confederate battle flag is also incorporated into the state flag of Mississippi.

Mississippi state flag

The Confederacy used several flag designs during its existence from 1861 to 1865. The most famous design is the flag used by the Army of Northern Virginia, under the command of General Robert E. Lee, who is also the most famous figure of the Confederacy.

Confederate battle flag

The Portsmouth Herald leans liberal. Seacoast Media Group, the company that operates the newspaper, endorsed Hillary Clinton for president in October 2016.

The SeacoastOnline.com poll about the Confederate flag was posted at 2 a.m. Friday, June 12.

Screenshot of SeacoastOnline.com, the web site of The Portsmouth Herald, on Friday, June 12, 2020.

As of about 6 a.m. Friday, June 12, respondents had voted 55-45 against banning the Confederate flag.

Respondents to the Confederate flag poll on the SeacoastOnline.com web site had voted 55-45 percent against banning the flag as of about 6 a.m. Friday, June 12, 2020, about four hours after the poll was posted. Screenshot of SeacoastOnline.com web site.