Well said, all, but I have to agree with the first respondent, on two counts.
1) The fact that "it was put up in defense of bigotry." The flag hasn't
flown over the South Carolina Capitol since the Confederacy, it was put up in the early
1960s, in defiance of antisegregation legislation. If it had flown there since the Civil
War in honor of fallen soldiers, the situation might be a bit different.
2) He stated, that "it's about states' rights and about history, but
it's dark history, at best." We have to remember that one of those "states
rights" was the right to own other human beings.
And a couple of other points: Some say that the flag's use by the Klan and other
bastions of bigotry does not represent the south. However, I don't know of any howls
of protest from other quarters about the co-opting of the flag by these organizations.
Oh, and remember - one thing the flag stands for is treason! It was flown originally by
traitors to the Union.
I'll stop now, because I'm not as passionate about this as I may sound .... and
I'm sure that the eyes of our fellow Campbells outside the U.S. are glazing over as
they read this (either that, or they're busy penning their "this is not about
genealogy!!" responses.
Cheers -