The Confederate flag will endure current passions.
Hard to say ,really. After the Civil War ended, that flag, defeated, was put away and wasn't displayed by anyone. It was only brought out on occasion to honor a dead Confederate soldier and other special ceremonies. It was not routinely flown by much of anyone in the South until Strom Thurmond and his Dixiecrats (the States' Rights Democratic Party) resurrected it in 1948 to combat the Civil Rights movement. Thurmond won 39 electoral votes, and moved on to running for Senate, which he won, running on a strict segregationist platform. As the Civil Rights movement grew, so did the display of the Confederate flag, and it became a symbol of not merely Southern pride and heritage, but of anti Civil Rights for blacks (Thurmond noted in a speech that nowhere in the U.S. Constitution "does it hint a purpose to insure equality of man or things," and that the Founding Fathers created a republic rather that a democracy, "where everyone rules and majority rule is absolute.") and of the KKK.
I don't know why they should. She's an idiot. And a northern idiot, to boot. Her "history" of the Confederate flag that she to authoritatively presented is grossly incomplete, and revisionist. It's true that it was never designated as the official flag, but it became the de facto flag within weeks and within 3 months was the only battle flag used by the Confederate Army despite it not being "condoned" as the official flag of the Confederacy.
After her presentation on the history of the flag, she says that she can "kinda understand why people don't like the Confederate flag," and then immediately follows that up with complete and total idiocy when she says, "...but at the same time, there really isn't an understanding of why you hate a flag that had nothing to do with the NATIONAL Confederacy. The Confederacy didn't even condone this flag. It was the battle flag of Virginia." Yet it was, in fact, used by every military regiment in the South in battle after Lee began using it.
My favorite part, though, is when she says, "I think I can actually say that the Confederate flag isn't significant symbolism of the South's history..." (because she's an unobservant northern idiot) "...and it doesn't really have much to do with racism." (because she is apparently clueless about Strom Thurmon and how the Dixiecrats resurrected it in 1948 to combat integration and rights for blacks, and how it quickly became a symbol all over the south anti-Civil Rights and segregation, since she conveniently left out all that history in her history presentation.).
A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing, especially when you express it though political ideology.
