I was born in the 50s and grew up with adults that lived through WW2. Believe me, all of us kids were immersed in stories about the war along with horrible stories about the Depression. TV was filled with shows about WW2. My favorites were Combat, McHales Navy and Hogan's Heroes. All of us kids were raised to hate the Third Reich and the Japs. We called them krauts, Japs, slant eyes, you name it, we all heard it from media and our parents. Sure we knew that the current crop of Germans were not Nazis, the Japanese were not all kamikase pilots but the lesson was clear, the world had gone through hell and the Japs and Krauts were responsible. For them it was a period of shame and repentance, they did everything they could to separate themselves from their past and atone for their collective sins. They did a great job of it too, we all should commend both nations for turning a corner and for the most part, making amends (Japan still had some work to do relative to Nanking and comfort ladies). Why is this relevant to today? Because the South never went through the same process.
Instead of taking full responsibility for their sins and crimes against humanity, the old Confederacy just kept it up via Jim Crow. They went for it within the law and the federal government let them do it. Up until the 1960s, the South was never going to repent, forgive and show shame for their horrific legacy. They actually enjoyed it, it was part of their heritage. They put up statues to Jefferson Davis, named streets after Generals and brought back the Stars and Bars when black people started to act out and the federal government started to pay attention. It started with Truman integrating the services, that drove them nuts. Ike was symapathetic but did very little. Warren sealed the deal though with Brown v Wade, that was too much for the South and the Northern racists alike. How dare anyone tell them they should treat blacks as equals?
Today, they still revel in their lost world. The symbol of that lost world is the Confederate Battle Flag. It is an abomination. It is a symbol of a crime against humanity that went on for hundreds of years and brought so many tears of misery for millions. It is time to ditch it for anyone who thinks it means something else is either a racist, a moron or a complicit member of the former. In Nuremborg and in Tokyo we showed the world that America was a nation of laws and that all of us are responsible for protecting each and every human being on earth from evil. Get rid of it, treat it like the Nazi Flag or the Japanese Sun. It should be a flag of shame for it is nothing but a reminder of how much our nation was founded upon an original sin, slavery, genocide and conquest.
I hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal...it should bring tears to our eyes today that we are so far from realizing this simple truth written so long ago.