I've made the same argument here in the past, but unfortunately many on these Confederacy/Civil War/South-in-general threads already have their minds made up. No amount of logic, reason, or fact will change the minds of those who believe that 1) the South is full of doofus, bucktoothed hicks who wouldn't be able to survive without the help of our Northern benefactors, 2) we sit around all day everyday pining for the "good old days" of slavery and Jim Crow, and 3) we're still fighting the Civil War (heck, we have enough to worry about with the one yet to come). To them all pride we Southerners have for our homes, our culture, our cuisine, our beautiful women, our great football and fishing, and all other things Southern, stems from the fact that we had slavery 140 years ago.
I have tried to explain to them that not only is it a symbol of our heritage, but also a nationwide symbol of today's struggle against what many see as the government's increasing infringement against our property rights, our parental rights, our RKBA, and so on. That's why I've seen the flag flying in New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Colorado, Arizona, and many other non-Southern states I've lived or worked in. But those who march in the lockstep of conventional wisdom will not listen to anything other than parroting of their belief that the Reconstruction should never have ended.
I'm with you completely, bro, because I'm a proud Southerner, too. But your reason will not get through the armor of many thick skulls on these threads.
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!
All well and good and the way I saw it myself maybe 10 years ago.
But you have this vocal group who rails at President Lincoln and lies about the real heroes of the war -- Union soldiers.
What you describe is NOT what it means to them. To them it is just a front for the racism they can no longer openly express.
Walt