[Tyhm]

Unfortunately, the Confederate Flag has been hijacked as a symbol of oppresion. It is most infamously recognized as a symbol of the KKK as a way of stating their belief that the Civil War should be refought and the south should maintain its right to own slaves in a plantation economy. It's unfortunate, it may even be innacurate, but that's the world we live in. The swastika was an indian symbol of luck or prosperity or something prior to its adoption by the National Socialist Party of Germany in the mid 1930s (You all know of what I speak, but the words are censored so I will not say them directly) - now it is in poor taste to continue its use. A more contemporary example, the American Flag has been a symbol of conservativism since the 60s, in defiance of hippies who valued peace over nationalism. It wasn't until September 11th when it returned to the mainstream as a symbol of support for all Americans, not just the nationalists or conservatives.

That's why people are giving you guff for the confederate flag. It's a symbol of the rebels, the south - an army of rich white landowners who were protecting their right to a slave-labor based plantation economy against the rich white factoryowners of the north. The war itself was meaningless, or rather, the battles were - in the end, the war was decided by the relative economies, and Industry won out over Agriculture.

If your point is that Agriculture Rox, fine. If your point is that Southern Culture is gentle and refined, just say so. If your point is not that the southern economic system was and is superior, however, I would not recommend continued use of that particular symbol, any more than I'd promote the use of the USSR flag to say "Russian Culture Rules!"

Incidentally, I was born in California and now live in Indiana, so I must be so depressed over my inability to surf out here that I screw cows. Or something.