I have never viewed the confederate flag about racism, but about rural freedom and rural rebels, who push back against the urban and industrial dominance of the big cities.

We should celebrate the freedom of rural areas, were a spread-out population allows people to do things that would never be tolerated in more urban areas. In rural areas you can farm, make a lot of news, burn things, shoot guns, and otherwise have fun in woods and fields that would never been tolerated in urban areas. A low population means individual impacts are often diluted to de minimus amount.

Nobody can dispute that the south once had slavery. That’s history, something that was resolved by the Civil War. The south resisted the aggressive north which tried to push it’s urbanized ways upon them. But nowadays, the south has many rural people — some who are black and many who farm, hunt, and fish — pushing back against the big money urban dominance of our nation.

Cities are often held up as models of multiculturalism and diversity. However, many northern cities are highly segregated and racial tensions are held just under the cover, by de-facto housing segregation and aggressive policing of minority neighborhoods. Maybe we should ban hip-hop and rap music, and other symbols of urban life, and require city folk to listen to country music.

Is the problem the rebel flag, or is the cities where over 80% of the population live?