"Southern pride" is just as bad as Holocaust denial

People who argue that the Confederate flag stands for their "heritage," rather than any racial agenda are either hopelessly ignorant or in deep denial (or they are outright liars.) The Civil War was fought over slavery, pure and simple. If you want to say people were defending a way of life (dependent on slavery) or states' rights (to allow slavery) or heritage (of brutality and violence perpetrated on blacks by whites), that's fine, so long as you acknowledge the root of it all. Marching in support of the flag, then, is marching in support of an especially virulent form of racism. Of course, anyone has the right to support such things, but to march and also to deny the cause is a combination of stupidity and cowardice.


from Style Weekly