Hey ABCNews, don't you think the rest of the country should hear about these sons of the south who feel that their particular brand of racism is sacred and should be protected? The south is the living embodiment of the old saw, "those that don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it."
There are some here who seemed confused about their own history. They say the war wasn't about Slavery. They are either misinformed or they're lying. The war was fought to prevent the expansion of slavery and ultimately, to end the practice altogether. The south relied on slaves to keep their farms operating, plain and simple. Enslaving another human being so that you can enrich yourself or your family is nothing to be proud of, rather, it's a reason to hang your collective heads in shame. Like it or not, the confederate flag is a symbol of that legacy. The blot of slavery on our history is something the entire nation shares but the south, by choosing to sucede from the nation rather than give up the brutal practice, has a uniquely shameful burden to bear. Instead of recognizing the injustice and inhumanity of their forefathers, these modernday sons of the south want to pretend they're the victims. Please, I'm sure the Univ. Of Mississippi has a book someplace in their library by Fredrick Douglas or by someone else that offers a firsthand look into the realities of slavery. I respectfully suggest you read it before you lay claim to your precious southern heritage.

BTW--The south didn't invent the blues.

So, the Civil War had nothing to do with slavery?
The flying of the Confederat flag shows pride in your heritage and has nothing to do with bigotry?
Has any one of them said: I take pride in my heritage but slavery was a stain of massive proportions and was wrong?
When anyone of them makes that statement, then I will believe that they are not racists.

The confederate flag is a symbol of treason, slavery, lynching, murder, white men raping black women with impunity, denial of human right, all civil rights and the ultimate of white supremacy

I live in North Carolina, and I wish people like "Don Gordon" wouldn't pretend to speak for everyone in the region. Few things are more embarrassing than seeing someone display a Confederate Flag.

And "ragebot", who cares if English is not Dennis' first language? He's as entitled to expressing his opinion as anyone else, so I am much more "against posts like" YOURS than his. By the way, "whatever" is one word, and you're missing a comma between "flag" and "you". Is English YOUR first language? If so, you are made of 100% fail.

Sorry, whenever I see the Stars 'N Bars I remember my parents carefully planning road trips to avoid stopping in places where our biracial family could have been refused accomodations. My grandparents were considered radical for allowing us in their house. Mom is Asian, but the laws still applied to us. I was three years too young to be relegated to "separate but equal" schools.

If they love a flag that stands against our country they can take their redneck asses and move to Iran or somewhere else. I hear Al Qaida is recruiting America haters.

What happened to my original comment?

Finally, it's ridiculous to argue about this, because if you asked 95% of the people who wear/wave Confederate flags a few questions about the Civil War, they could do little more than belch and open another PBR. You can't reason with people who hold up symbols of hate and defeat as their symbol of pride. You can only pity them.

It was actually the most popular battle flag used by Confederate soldiers. They carried it proudly into battle. They fought for what THEY believed in (Lincoln did the right thing holding the Union together). It was a proud symbol and thousands of Southern soldiers fought and died following it into battle. After the war it was a symbol of the sacrifice made by the Southern army, and if it continued to represent that sacrifice I believe most would not object to seeing it displayed. The problem is this once proud symbol was absconded by the KKK and other racist groups. Once these groups claimed the Stars and Bars it no longer represented brave soldiers. The actions of these racist groups converted the flag into a symbol of murder, rape, intolerance, ignorance, hatred and every despicable act perpetrated on blacks and other minorities for the last 140 years. What that flag represents now is RACISM and all the ugliness that goes with it. It should never be displayed as a proud symbol, it's a disgrace to the memory of the thousands who died following it into battle.

Georgia:

Your comments may sound like a whole lot of hoopla and support of Dixie and the Flag as it pertains to sports and games, but it's wrong to continue to display that flag. The flag represents the support of slavery and the southern states rights to maintain the same.....

Wow, some of these posts are downright brutal. The posts make me wonder if our ancestors knew what they were doing to want to leave the fellowship of a Union that dislikes Southerners so much. The interesting question is whether Romney and Thompson want to be president of all honest taxpaying Americans (heritage flag flyers or not)? At least Lincoln welcomed Southerners back into the Union and had Dixie played at an event celebrating the end of hostilities. By the way, was Romney disparaging the Confederate battle flag or the Texas state flag (which was also hanging on the wall)? The Texas state flag also flew over Confederate soldiers from that state. He seemed to zero in on the Confederate battle flag instead of the Texas flag. Maybe this betrayed a lack of understanding on his part that he is running to be president of all Americans who obey the law and mind their own business. There seems to be too much 21st and 20th century experiences and hindsight being applied to a mid-19th century historical unpleasantness. Southerners believed strongly during the mid-19th century that their grandfathers' fought successfully against the British for the right of self-government and that a central government was created to provide for a common defense and a few other delineated items. They felt that the central government they helped create had no rights to invade another state. Seceding from a Union is not the same thing as trying to overthrow a central government. The South was glad to see the United States continue as a free republic representing those states that wanted to remain with the U.S. Three states insisted before signing the Constitution that secession was a perogative of the individual states forming the Union. Those states were Virginia, Connecticut and New York (New York!). New England was the first area to test secession by threatening it in the early 19th century (how treasonous).

For those who continue to say that the Civil War wasn't about slavery, they need to consult the facts. After seceding each state changed its constituion to allow slavery to continue. Nothing else was changed in their constitution.

As posted elsewhere, the south committed treason and took up arms against the Union. No one should be allowed to fly a flag representative of this action.

"As posted elsewhere, the south committed treason and took up arms against the Union. No one should be allowed to fly a flag representative of this action."

Exactly.

Personally, I think it was Lincoln's folly. He should've let the South cecede...those states mooch off the federal treasury anyway and bloc vote for incompetent fools like George W. Bush.

We'd be much better off without the ol' confederacy and their flag, a symbol of slavery and treason.

Savannah says:

"Seceding from a Union is not the same thing as trying to overthrow a central government."

Come again? Who attacked Fort Sumter?
Yes, Lincoln, in his infinite wisdom allowed the south back into the fold and was more than generous in the terms of surrender but the south DID have to surrender first. They had to promise to lay down their arms and to pledge their loyalty to the union. It wasn't the other way around. The south has to conform to the rest of the country. What makes your geographic and historical background so special that you should dictate what parts of your history we should ignore and what parts we ought to celebrate? You say:

"The interesting question is whether Romney and Thompson want to be president of all honest taxpaying Americans (heritage flag flyers or not)?"

I wonder if you would give that same prerogative to honest taxpaying communists or honest taxpaying nazis? Why should any presidential candidate kowtow to the refined bigotry of a few who can't let go of their very selective version of history?

The War of Northern Aggression was one of unconstitutional roots. A free union held together by gun point dosent seem to embody much liberty to me. Lincoln even stated that people have to duty to liberty as a free citizens to remove themselves from any government that doesnt not represent their interest, and form a new one. Look it up before you hail him so proudly. The problem with some of these radical arguments about the Confederacy and American South itself is that they are uneduacted. Partly due to the American Publica Education System I presume. I hear of northerns history classes and thei biased teachings of the War Between the States. They discust me! How many soldiers fighting for the Union would have stayed of they are told they were fighting for emancipation?? Not many I assure you. The War was very unpopular at the time, much like the current on i guess (Northerners must have zero patience or will). Lincoln never freed a single slave in his own Nation (The Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves only in the states of rebellion...Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri continued to retain slaves). So spare me this love for Lincoln that many of Americans so blindly have, and concern yourselves more will the protection of our constitution. There would have never of been a reason to leave the Union had the Consitution been defended like it was entended. I agree...I hate the Patriot Act...I voted for Bush (he was still better than Kerry), but I can no longer vote based upon the lesser of two evils thought.
As for the Confederate Flag, if you're not from the South we cant expect you to understand. The expectation is for all Americans to defend anyone's constitutional right to fly it. That includes the states of South Carolina, Mississippi, and Georgia. These People have chosen this symbol to represent them, and Americans must respect a free People's decision.

Look Away, Look Away, Look Away Dixieland...
Hotty Toddy and Go Rebels

Anyone who would refuse to vote for someone on the ground that they believe a flag is a symbol perceived by many in this country, rightly or wrongly, of past racism, and therefore shouldn't be flown, has severe psychological problems. I am a Southerner but these South Carolinians who now call Thompson and Romney traitors because of their position are no different than the Muslims who resorted to violence because of the publication of a cartoon in Denmark that Muslims found offensive. This belief that the public display of a flag is an important issue exhibits a pathological lack of proportion to what is really important in this world.

C Reb,

Don't sugarcoat it, say what those "unconstitutional roots" were. You just can't bring yourself to say it but what we're really talking about is the "right" as southerners viewed things, to continue the institution of slavery. I'm sorry but I just can't get myself all worked up about you're forefathers lost constitutional right to enslave people. Slavery was wrong when it was practiced in the north and it was wrong when it was practiced in the south. It had to end for our country to evolve and Lincoln recognized that. Was he perfect? No, he was human just like the rest of us but he knew the time had come to cut this cancer from our collective souls and was willing to risk the union to do it. That is why we hold him in such high regard. He was fighting for, in his words, "the better angels of our nature". What was your side fighting for?

WHAT ALL AMERICANS MUST UNDERSTAND IS THAT MANY AMERICAN SOUTHERNES DIED FOR 'STATES RIGHTS' , SOMETHING THAT WE LOST WHEN THE CONFEDERATE SOUTH LOST THE WAR.
AN D THE CONFEDERATFLASG SDHOULD BE HONORED ALONG WITH THE UNION FLAG TO HONOR THSE AMERICANS WH FOUGHT FOR STSATES RIGHTS. AND ANY \ONE WHO KOW THEIR CVIVIL WAR HISTORY KNOWES THAT ABRAHAM INCOLN AWAS A RACIST AND ONLY USEDD THE EMANCIPASTION OF DECLSARATION HALF WAY THROUGHJ TO WAR TO APPEASE TYHE OPPONENTS OF WAR AND RECRUIT NORTHERN SOLDIERS. ABE LINCOLN WASS IN THE POCKETS OF THE NORTHER INDUSTRIALISTS AND THE CENTRAL BANK, JUST AS BUSH IS. "I HAVE NOT NOR EVER HAVE BEEN IN FAVOR OF BRINGING ABOUT IN ANY WAY, THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL EQUALITY OF THE WHITE AND BLACK RACE." ABRAHAM LINCOLN 1861, AFTER THE OUTBREAK OF THE CIVIL WAR.

THE HONEST ABE MYTH IS A REPUB;ICAN REVISION OF THE TRUE HISTORY. I HOPE WE HAVE ENOUGH PATRIOTISM TO HONOR THE CONFEDERATE FLAG FOR WHAT IT STOOD FOR, 'STATES RIGHTS', THE ONLY DEFENSE LEFT AGANST DICTATORSHIP LEFT.

The Confederate Flag, above all else, is a symbol of treason. Period. There is nothing honorable about the civil war except that the North was kind enough not to crush the South utterly, rather than letting ignorance and cultural recidivism rule the day.

There is a reason why Germans don't honor their "brave" soldiers that destroyed France.

Ouch! I honestly cannot believe the ignorant and idiotic comments being posted here. Being able to fly the Confederate flag was an important part of the healing between the North and the South. It isn't racist, I've seen quite a few African-Americans do it. This is just another example of why the Republicans are going to win again. A little history lesson: the Dems are the party of the south, also the party of the south during the civil war (so I suppose voting for them makes you a traitor). It can't escape your notice that the most prominent Democratic politicians are Southern. And yet the south now votes Republican. Why? Because comments like these spread divisivness and hatred. The south has a very good education system and a strong economy, much of it based in technology. It is also far more politically liberal than people acknowledge. While some parts are poor a think that only makes your comments worse. Comments like these have made Southerners feel isolated from the Democratic party and have thrown them into the waiting arms of Republicans. This incident could have led some Southerners to vote for a democrat. Instead, with this reaction, they are likely to become even more Republican. The condescending reaction to Hurricane Katrina led Louisiana to vote for a Republican govenor. The poorly thought out critisicms of Bush-he was a cheerleader at Andover ,must people constantly call him a cowboy?- have made Texas go from being a 1 party state for the Democrats to a 1 party state for the Republicans. The civil war ended a while back: get over it, let people fly any damn flag they want, and don't try to revive old tensions. The Democrats lost the first time, if you choose to refight it they'll lose again.