Those who support the presence of Confederate symbols in public spaces in the South tend to have less knowledge of Civil War history, negating a commonly used defense that the emblems represent ‘heritage not hate’

The shooting of African-American church goers by white supremacist Dylann Roof reignited a fierce discussion in the American South about the role of Confederate symbols in public spaces. Much of this falls under the ‘hate vs. heritage’ debate; that confederate emblems represent heritage as opposed to racial animosity. Research by Logan Strother, Spencer Piston, and Thomas Ogorzalek finds that those who support the public presence of Confederate emblems tend to have less knowledge of Civil War history, demonstrating that racial prejudice does explain much of the observed support for the Confederate flag, while Southern heritage appears to explain relatively little.