In regards to the OP: No, there's nothing wrong with it. In fact Confederate (as opposed to "Southern," generally used by rednecks for racist comparison and other ignorant claims) pride is something I hold near and dear. The very fact that my forefathers decided that they were being wronged and after failing at diplomatic means, took action, speaks volumes to their courage and their ethical backbone.
Slavery aside, being a mere sidetrack to give the Lincoln Administration a moral high ground after the Federal Industrialists and bankers suffered low retention and reenlistments as well as desertion and no new recruits, the causes were all ones that the founders of the United States would have sided with and that I can sympathize with. (Did you know in the state I live in, New Mexico, US Army officers had slaves as late as the 1870's, over ten years after the emancipation and end of the war?)
To me flying that flag goes against the United States. The southern states fired the first shot and declared open rebellion. To me it is a traitors flag simple as that. I live in Kentucky so I have to see it all the time. My great, great grandfather fought for the Union in the 9th Ky. Cav. But out of respect for our freedoms, it is someone's right to fly whatever they want. Even though to me it is disgusting. I'll quote John Hunt, an Illinois man who had sympathy for the rebel cause and almost joined himself... "Like a great many poor misguided individuals living contiguous to the southern border I was almost ready to join the issue with 'our brethren of the south.'" What decided the issue for Hunt was the shelling of Fort Sumter when the Confederates became "aggressors, and committed the unpardonable sin of firing on the flag, they revolutionized political sentiment in southern illinois." He concluded with "The vast majority of our able-bodied male population,myself with the rest. Sooner or later enlisted under the banner of 'Old Glory' in defense of our country." This was taken from the book "Nothing But Victory: Army of the Tennessee 1861-1865. It is a good read and I highly recommend it if you have an interest in the most successful Union army.
Lincoln was told not to attempt to reinforce or supplement the fort with the implements of war, as it was now in theory a Confederate State fort occupied by a foreign army. The Southern Commanders authorized a ship to take the families out of potential harm's way. Lincoln authorized the flotilla to attempt to stock the fort with further munitions, hence the willful and committed effort of Lincoln to "Inaugurate Civil War" was fulfilled, and he was able to raise troops to invade the south.
As is the way in politics, the military man is often made into the tools of government; a throw away item that can be replaced and has fulfilled his cause.
I also had a southern family member who fought for the North. At the onset he rode from Georgia and obtained a commission in a Union Cavalry regiment.
He was with Sherman's murderous rape to the sea, and was dispatched by his commander to his home town in hopes that they would not, upon seeing their own at the head of the column, resist.
In the irony of the times, Griffin's best friend, wounded in action during the war, was now in charge of the Confederate Home Guard of the County. Seeing the expected column come into town with an unexpected commander, the man stood from his place of ambush, walked into the street, and blew his best friend off his horse.
(That was the story we were told as kids to teach us never to forsake family, lol, and I have the records of it somewhere.)
The good and the bad of any nation is remembered, and the loser often winds up with the bulk of the bad being exaggerated and the winner's good exaggerated. This was true of the American Revolution, 1812, and the ACW.
The North did successfully free the slaves- albeit in the south, where they at the time had no jurisdiction- and "re-unified and saved the Republic." However, they did this by employing total war strategy on women and children (while the Army of Virginia, on their way to Gettysburg, was ordered by RE Lee to purchase any shoes or other articles they needed, in contrast).
The South did shoot herself in the foot by not freeing the slaves. The unfortunate circumstance of having the able and abolitionist members in uniform, and the businessmen who profited from slavery in congress, resulted in the bills to free the slaves being turned down. However, the living condition of a slave in the south was arguably better than 90% of the free blacks in the North (many abolitionists were also very racist- they should be
free, not
equal); it was not wholesale brutality like portrayed in some history books and early movies/documentaries.
The post war south also damaged her image with the rise of the KKK and "Redneck Southern Pride."
The KKK- I need not explain. It did spread well into the North and Western states, but no getting around it started in the South.
Redneck Southern Pride- these guys may not be KKK, but some are close. It is disgusting. Not only with their outlook on minorities, but also the image they put on the south, thinking that if they fake making their drawl 'bigger' and have more 'baccy chew on their boots, that makes them more in tune with the ghosts of their forefathers, who in reality are turning in their graves that the "South will rise again" crowd is so utterly ignorant.
In closing, having pride in the heritage of your confederate forefathers and their ability to take a stand is not only "ok," it's a part of you, and this nation, and is a good thing. The lessons learned by a relatively infant nation were boundless, and are lessons current presidents would do well to remember.
