There is no way I am going to defend the Klan, and I agree it was started by Democrats in the South after the war. As I said in my original post, some of us have learned different versions of why the war was fought. I won't deny that slavery played a part in the war, but the biggest disagreement was over states rights -- as per the Southern version. As part of our history, we were taught that not all people who came South after the war were admirable, and were referred to as "Carpetbaggers" and "Scalawags". Since neither of us lived in this era, we only know what we were taught in school and by ancestors whose stories have been passed down to us. Thankfully, we live in the USA and can believe which version we choose to. I choose to believe the flag we are discussing is a CONFEDERATE flag, and not a KKK flag. I hate the KKK uses it, but I don't think "KKK" when I see it. The first paragraph of the letter found at the following URL explains how many Southerners feel about the flag: http://nccah.iwarp.com/3kletter.htm
I agree totally with your second paragraph, but won't comment on the third paragraph.
Hopefully, there will be more present day matters we will agree upon than disagree.