"Yeah, and people who own a motel have the right to not rent rooms to people they don't like, right?"
People who own a hotel can refuse to rent for various reasons, but not the color of your skin.
"Of course it's a freedom of speech issue. Just because the sign is privately owned, like a motel, it must treat everyone equally."
So you want to make confederate heritage groups a protected class? What about birdwatchers? Fat people? Gays?
As I said, if you follow the logic, the liberals did it to themselves.
Why can't the ancestors of Confederates be a protected group? They lost the war. Surely, they must be victims.