Flag Desecration Presented By: Sara Gottschalk & Jonathan Jackson

We chose the topic of flag desecration after considering how controversial it has been in the history of our nation. Facts: In North Carolina, flag desecration is charged as a misdemeanor. Flag desecration involves a charge in every state except for Wyoming and Alaska. On June 27, 2006, the most recent attempt to adopt a flag desecration amendment failed in the Senate by 1 vote. We hoped that the results of our polling would give us a clearer sense on the popular opinion concerning this subject.

Our Question: “What are your feelings concerning a legislative law on flag desecration?” Why this question is unbiased: -It uses neutral language such as ‘desecration’ instead of ‘burning.’ -No stance has been implied since the question is open- ended. -The wording of the question does not specify whether the law should be on the state or federal level, thereby leaving room for the participant to interpret freely.

Location, Location, Location Since Jonathan is a crazed shopper, some of our results came from the following Black Friday lines: Target, K-Mart, Best Buy, and Walmart. Other responses came via Internet through either Facebook or Surveymonkey. Lastly, we surveyed a few teachers (and janitors) from the good ol’ CCHS hallways. These areas provided a varied sample due to them being public places that are populated by all kinds of people (especially on Black Friday). By polling both online and in person, the age groups and ethnicities were spread across a wide range.

Our demographics included: -Race: White, African American, Asian, Hispanic, or other -Age: less than 18, 18-24, 25-35, 36-47, 48-60, greater than 61 -Gender: Male or Female -Political Party Affiliation: Republican, Democrat, Independent, or other. Overall, we surveyed a total of 52 persons. Most of the participants lived in Currituck, NC and Chesapeake, VA. However, some were from all regions of NC and even a few from across the U.S.A. Age Group (years old) Amount Surveyed < >615 Political Party Affiliation Amount Surveyed Democrat18 Republican19 Independent13 Other2

Survey Results ***Add “with enacting a law against flag desecration” to each key item.

Results by Party Affiliation The cleavage between republicans who agree and disagree is much larger than that of the democrats and independents.

Results by Gender Female VoteMale Vote ***Agree and Disagree compile “Strongly” and “Somewhat.” The cleavage of the female vote displays a greater difference in opinion whereas the male vote is largely in favor of agreeing with a law.

Reflection of Outcomes In the beginning, we thought that the data would demonstrate republicans in favor of a law and democrats against it. Surprisingly, more democrats agreed with implementing a law than defending it under their Constitutional rights, but the cleavage was smaller than that of the republicans. We expected independents to be in favor of a law, and the data proves this, but the margin was only split by one vote.

What We Learned We believe our outcome resembles the majority opinion to a certain extent. One thing to remember is that we are in a region that is largely military so the results are in favor of a law against desecrating an American symbol. Plus, on a large-scale basis, the only change we would expect would be an increase in Democrats against a law. Obviously, this is a controversial topic since only one vote from the Senate blocked an amendment. We also learned that not everyone understands what desecration is or what ethnicity they should be classified as.