The Suffolk University/USA Today poll conducted two weeks after the apparently racially motivated shooting and a week after calls for the flag to come down first built. It found that 42 percent of Americans think the flag is racist and should be removed from state grounds, while 42 percent of Americans think the flag is not racist and represents Southern history…

This poll didn’t ask whether those who thought the flag was a part of Southern heritage had opinions on whether it should stay or go on state property. But the heritage argument is a key one for flag supporters. While they offer many reasons, it basically all comes back to that.

So while it’s possible that people who think it’s about heritage rather than racism would still remove the flag from government property, we’re making an educated guess that this poll shows America is pretty split on the Confederate flag. That makes last month’s political race to drop the flag like a hot potato all the more surprising; politicians are usually much more deliberate.