Mississippians have more conservative views than Southerners regarding several social topics. This was based on the NBC News/SurveyMonkey survey, which was conducted in partnership with Mississippi Today. When asked if they support or oppose the removal Confederate monuments or statues from public places in Mississippi, 65% of respondents said so, while 61% of those who were polled elsewhere in the South said otherwise. The responses also gave insight into the attitudes of Mississippians compared to South residents. * When given two options for dealing with undocumented workers in the United States, 63 per cent in Mississippi preferred that they be allowed to apply to legal status. A larger 69 per cent of South residents supported that option. The other option of deportation to their country was supported by 34 percent of Mississippians, compared with 28 percent in the larger Southern states survey. When asked about their race relations, Mississippians generally agreed with their Southern counterparts. 62 percent said that these relations were improving or the same as in the South, while 64 percent expressed the same view across the South. According to the poll, sixty-five per cent of Mississippians believe that business owners should have the right to refuse to provide services to gay couples. This is guaranteed by House Bill 1523 (2016), which was up for appeal before the federal courts. Thirty percent believe that the law should require businesses to provide services for same-sex couples. * The Southern states poll did not ask a similar question. Instead, it asked respondents if they “support or oppose” allowing gay couples to marry legally. 55% of those polled supported the idea, while 42 percent were opposed. While there are more moderate views in the South, Mississippi’s poll results indicate that Mississippi still reflects conservative values. Click here to see the NBC News report about the Southern States regional poll. Survey Monkey, a national online polling company, conducted the Mississippi and Southern state polls online from March 12-25. States that polled were Alabama, Arkansas and Florida, Georgia. Louisiana, Mississippi. North Carolina. South Carolina. Tennessee. Texas, Virginia, Texas, and Virginia. With a margin of error of +/- 4.6 percentage points, the Mississippi poll had 1,486 respondents. The Southern states poll received 4,132 responses with an error estimate of plus/minus 2.4 percentage points. As one might expect, there were more differences in opinion between Republicans and Democrats than between white and black respondents. 65 percent of respondents from white were opposed to the removal of Confederate statues and monuments. Another 16 percent were somewhat opposed, while 17 percent supported such action. Black respondents overwhelmingly supported the removal of the monuments with 54 percent saying they would do so. Meanwhile, 40 percent expressed opposition to the removal of the markers, which are found in many areas across the state. Rep. Tracy Arnold (R-Booneville), said that the monuments were historical monuments and offered legislation to stop their removal. They are part of the state’s past. They are important and relevant to the state’s history. We have done some amazing, positive things in our state. However, there are also some things that we aren’t so proud of. We must move forward with the positive things that we have done and keep our eyes open for the negative things. The bills to protect Confederate memorials and statues in Alabama and North Carolina passed, but the Mississippi Legislature didn’t act on Arnold’s bill. Concerning citizenship for undocumented immigrant, younger respondents preferred that immigrants have legal status. Only 20% supported deporting undocumented migrants. Among Mississippi’s 18-24-year-olds, 78% supported legal status. Only 48 percent of Mississippians 65 years and older support legal status, while 46 per cent support deportation. Concerning race relations in Mississippi 44 percent of respondents were black and 31 percent of respondents were white. 39% of respondents from the South expressed concern about race relations getting worse than 32 percent of respondents from the white side. Respondents younger than 35 expressed greater concern about race relations. A plurality of respondents aged between 18 and 24 years old, as well as 44 percent of those 25 and 34 years old, expressed concern that relations were getting worse. Older generations tend to be more concerned about relations “staying the same.” The Southern States regional poll found that no one age group expressed concern that race relations were getting worse. According to the poll, only 13 percent of respondents from Mississippi were black and 22 percent of respondents were white who said that race relations in Mississippi were improving. Social issues have been a major focus of legislative leaders in the Capitol over the last few years. Most Republican legislators interviewed stated that they were most proud of having passed the nation’s strictest abortion ban, which was blocked immediately by a federal judge. Federal courts blocked House Bill 1523 from being passed in 2016. The law was finally upheld by the Supreme Court in January after months of legal struggles at both the district and appeals levels. According to the poll, Mississippi Republicans support one of the core principles of the law, which allows business owners to refuse to provide services to same-sex couples. Eighty-seven per cent of Republicans supported the law’s function, and only 12 percent believed that business owners should be required by law to serve same sex couples. Only 43 percent of Democrats surveyed supported this aspect of the law. However, 55 percent of Democrats believed that the law should require business owners and managers to provide same-sex couples with services. SurveyMonkey polls were conducted March 12-25, 2018, among a national sample of 15,238 adults (+/- 1.1); a regional sample of 4,132 adults who live in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia (+/- 2.4); a sample of 1,486 adults who live in Mississippi (+/-4.6); a sample of 1,498 adults who live in Alabama (+/- 4.5); a sample of 2,209 adults who live in Georgia (+/- 3.4); and a sample of 1,710 adults who live in Tennessee (+/- 4.1). The SurveyMonkey platform has nearly three million survey takers each day. This non-probability survey was taken from these respondents. Click here to see the full methodology and results.