I grew up in the South. The capital of the Confederacy was a short drive from my house. We studied the Civil War.
I watched the Dukes on TV, and enjoyed it. Many of my friends did and we laughed, joked, and wanted a car like that. We loved the horn, and when a friend’s Dad got a programmable horn that could play Dixie, we did it over and over.
I thought many of the people thinking “the South will rise again” or embracing this as history were just showing some pride. I’ve visited the cemeteries of Confederate soldiers, even as an adult, with curiosity and understanding this is part of our history in the US.
It is, but it’s also a racist icon and one that represents treason to me. We can study history and relegate the item to history, but I don’t think that we should display and celebrate that time. You may be proud that your ancestors stood up for that they believed in, but I’m not sure you should be proud of what they believed in.
I used to tolerate and not think too deeply about people putting that flag anywhere. As I look at the world, which has both grown and regressed, and not grown, I can’t tolerate that symbol anymore.
I had friends that embraced it. I also had people out there that physically threatened or assaulted me who proudly displayed it. I’ve had few physical encounters and some were not about race or skin color, but some were. In fact, all of the ones as an adult were.
The Confederate flag in the US ought to be treated like the Nazi flag in Germany. It’s the symbol of traitors, of racism, and of losers of the Civil War. I can’t believe our military has tolerated this until 2020, but I’m glad they are removing it.
I am, too.
Voice of the DBA 
I too grew up watching and enjoying the Dukes of Hazzard, and I remember that car and the flag on top. At the time, I didn’t really get the meaning of it.
As an adult, I finally understood the symbolism of that flag, and have developed a sharp distaste for seeing it displayed in any public forum. I’m glad that we’ve evolved to the point that those displays (not just the flag, but monuments to Confederacy figures) are being taken down.
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It makes me a combination of sad and mad when I see the Confederate flag on vehicles here in Colorado (especially since Colorado was obviously never part of the Confederacy).
I completely agree with you that the Confederacy is nothing to be celebrated or honored. It can be studied as a part of U.S. history, but things like flags and monuments should be relegated to museums.
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I have never thought it was right that a flag of the looser was able to have such prominence in a land in which it was defeated. To commemorate the looser by displaying statues, flags and other memorabilia in prominent places along side the statutes and flags of the ones who won, the ones that now govern is to sew discourse among the populous and drag the feet of progress to a new and better world, for which the war was fought. We can never fully heal as a nation with respect for one another, until we put away all that was defeated and focus on all that was won.
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