[@Darcs]:  I was trying to imply that the CSA officially used another national flag, not the battle flag.

Anyway, despite the flag being used by hate groups, being seen as hateful, racist, and other things, that's not what it means to the common southerner.  To us, it simply represents the region known as the southeast US.  A region that, supposedly, promotes a rural, small-town, local community and lifestyle.  People like that, people are proud of that, and we'll use the rebel flag to show that pride.

I can't help that the KKK uses it for racist purposes.  To me, it [i]demeans [/i]the south and the flag that the KKK uses it.  I hate them for that.

But when people try to restrict us on how we represent ourselves, that is what everyone gets mad about.  Another comparison is flying a flag at my house if I lived in Japan.  I'm sorry about what happened during WWII, I didn't support any of that - hell, I wasn't even around.  But I'm proud to be from America, and that's how I am going to represent it.

If there's going to be protests and riots, they should be aimed at the KKK, Black Panthers, hate groups, and street gangs.  Not a group of innocents proud to be from a specific region.