Reply #21: For many, it is a heritage issue more than a statement about

[Tsiyu]

citizenship or loyalty.

Where I live, families split into blue and gray and there were many war dead on both sides. There was also a great deal of post-war poverty in the Southern states along with "occupation" which bred a defiance of and a contempt for the Union and for Yankees.

This is why many people display the flag, or so they have told me: to honor their dead and to show a certain regional independence. I think being defeated and impoverished in the past still stings and prods the Southerner to adopt a "tough" demeanor toward the victors.

Of course, my New York self threatened to steal a friend's Rebel flags tonight and burn them, but I know him well enough to joke about such a thing. Plus he was begging a kiss when I mentioned it ;)

He didn't get the kiss and I didn't steal the flag, and I will continue to tell him, "You lost. Get over it!"