I'm a Southerner with a long line of Confederate ancestors up both sides of my family tree. One ancestor was military governor of Rome, Georgia, prior to Sherman's arrival. Another ancestor was captured in Chattanooga and spent the rest of the war in one of the Union prisons; his brother-in-law died at Gettysburg.

Where were all the flag-as-heritage people when various state legislatures co-opted the flag to serve as an up-yours message to the Supreme Court over the issue of integration? Because that's when the battle flag was added to Georgia's state flag. Those flag-as-heritage folks didn't rise up to defend their flag then, to insist that it stood for heritage rather than racism. They missed the boat. That's too bad for the people who do want to honor the flag for what it used to stand for, but it's the way it is now. Arguing that the flag doesn't mean what everyone knows it means is just pointless.