My take on the Rebel flag is such that I don’t see it as making a statement in support of slavery or denigrating Blacks today.
I see it more of a statement of Southern pride, state’s rights, a legacy of people’s pride in their own region, as opposed to something being crammed down their throats by the government.
This isn’t an attempt to rewrite history, or open the real cause of the Civil war to debate. It’s an attempt to understand why people cling to the Rebel flag today, and merely see it as a source of regional pride.
Is anyone convinced that wearing those shirts was done to make a statement against Blacks or in support of slavery?
I’m not.
“I see it more of a statement of Southern pride...”
“Heritage not Hate” is the perfect slogan for those shirts.
Even if it was a statement in support of slavery, of the historical southern insurrection, or racism, it would still be protected from government censorship per the first amendment, just as African nationalists flag shirts which support anti-white racism, or Che shirts which support a communist mass murderer are protected from government censorship.
One can have personal contempt for such things, but government representatives are forbidden from using the authority of the state to suppress such speech.