Whether it stands for slavery and secession to you or for rainbows and unicorns, your perception of the flag and what it stands for is of great importance to your mind and of little importance to others. To conservatives (especially hard-line Constitutional conservatives who still believe the Bill of Rights meant what it said) in the south, the confederate flag stands for the 10th Amendment, and for the rights and powers of the States to decide matters not delegated by the Constitution to the federal Congress. While the institution of slavery and the rights of the states to secede from the union were major issues leading to the War of Northern Aggression, they were not the only issues. To southerners, the confederate flag stands for pride in our southern heritage, for rugged individualism and a rural/agrarian culture rather than an industrial/mechanical culture, for self-determination rather than subservience to the dictates of Washington and a northeastern consortium of oligarchs. If you have bought into the idea that because some loud racists have hijacked our flag for their agenda that the flag stands for that agenda, then nothing any southerner can say will change your mind; but we will not let you or anyone else dictate to us what the flag stands for.
Once again, I will share this pic because it makes a good point: