G'Day to you too, mate...
I don't necessarily disagree with your comments.
My personal opinion is that I don't think that it should be displayed at State governments/institutions. But that's not saying that I opine that it should be banned from existence in the USA. I don't at all see it in the same light as say, Hitler's Swastika flag, which he replaced Germany's national flag with.
From a historical standpoint, the Confederacy was created by a incredible philosophical division within a nation, between its citizens - over whether there was a fundamental right to own slaves. And in the end...yes...the Confederate flag was symbolic of that division.
But lets not be naive here.
At the birth of our nation, the industrial age was at the zygote stage here in American so - "economically speaking" - a fair number of men associated with creating our government hated the idea of industrialization because they believed that our destiny was rooted in fruits of our labor that could only come from working the soil. Obviously - the labor part - is where slavery comes in. At least for the elite who were creating our nation.
Most of the founders/framers of the United States of America were elite white male slave owners. They made their fortunes using slaves. We don't think about this reality because for all practical purposes it was (and still is) "omitted as a fact of history" in education institutions from the 12 grade and under. Consequently, from an educational standpoint, our young minds were never engaged in a way to even consider that our founders were wrongfully involved in the ownership of other human beings, which were used for uncompensated labor and a considered to be commodities, in and of themselves.
I've been around a few decades. Until I went to college...just the thought of our founders being slave owners - was a foreign idea or concept. And while college level history doesn't often candy coat history - in my American History class...my mind just skipped over esoteric implications of our founders being slave owners, which should have jarred me, not only intellectually, but emotionally in some way.
I'm personally not aware of any generation that has been seriously educated about the staunch realities regarding our founders support of, and use of enslaved human beings (which of course they called property). Not only that, but many believed that they had an inalienable right to own a species of life resembling human beings to provide free labor and sell even at will like a John Deere Tractor.
Even today...by technical/propaganda default (IOWs - by reasons related to the historical gloss over or omission of facts presented to most people) - most folks don't indulge in seriously pondering the fact that our at the dawn of nation - its core economy - had much to do with the use of slave labor for enterprise purposes - and that included breeding and selling slaves. Should people ponder such? I think so. But from reading much of this thread, a lot of people would disagree.
So...I think that people should have the right to make bumper stickers, Tee-shirts bikinis and beer koozies that looks like a Confederate flag - or even fly one on their own property. And if doing such offends others, too bad. People have the right to be offended. And those who offend have a right to do that too as long as they don't, in some malicious way, cause injury or mortal harm to others.
After all...that's what a lot of people do the the United States flag. Some folks even burn them. Offensive? I'm betting to a lot of people..yes. But in the same vein, too bad. The 1st Amendment applies to both of these situations.
