So about that 'Confederate Flag'

Twitter is abuzz this evening over photos and reports that, among the protestors at the White House, one young man was waiving a Confederate flag.

Heaps of condemnation poured in.

Can we slow the roll for a minute, though? While I, personally, find it terribly inappropriate to waive what was once the ‘rebel flag’ at the White House (or even in general, as I understand the racism and history interwoven with the symbol), the rush to label it a symbol of hate and assume racist intent by its owner… is somewhat hysterical and disturbing.

When did we conservatives become so quick to cry ‘racism!’? To cry ‘offensive!’? Is it not also possible that the Confederate flag is simply, for many, a symbol of the South’s unique, distinct culture, or a symbol of regional pride? 

I have known Southern individuals whose vehicles bear a Confederate flag bumper sticker, who own a t-shirt of the symbol, or even servicemen with a tattoo of such — to them, it is simply a symbol of Southern pride (after all: it’s what they’re stuck with, as there exists no other symbol for ‘the South’… what should they use instead? A t-shirt of the ‘Steel Magnolias’ cast?) 

Just when did we agree it was, definitively, a hateful symbol across the board? Did I miss the memo?