See, that's the thing. In post-WWII Germany, they banned Nazi symbols. They taught their children in schools that the Nazis were bad and were a dark stain on their history. They did this almost immediately after the war ended. Part of it is they were shamed and humiliated over losing the war. Just like the south did.
But far from shamed and humiliated, white southerns simply refuse to let go of romanticizing the confederacy, even 150 years later.
Just consider one aspect which ought to be parallel but isn't. The German generals were, at least initially, tactically and strategically more adept than were their adversaries. You'd think what, German pride, would lead Germans to celebrate these generals. Except they don't, with the sometime singular exception of Rommel who did, after all, participate in a plot to assassinate Hitler!
But in the south, they puff out their chests in pride, claiming "our generals were better than their generals!" Never mind if that is or isn't historically accurate. Either way, it isn't something to celebrate. Indeed, had the German generals been totally inept, it would have been better for everyone, including Germany, as the war would have ended earlier and possibly saved millions of lives. Similarly with the confederate generals, it would have been better for all involved had that war ended more swiftly.
Sadly, this obsession with venerating the confederacy has only one possible explanation: that the racism which created and nourished the institution of slavery hasn't ever really left the south. If it had, they would have gotten rid of all this stuff on their own, long before liberals ever asked them to. They would have gotten rid of it out of shame, just as the Germans did because of their own shame.
www.nationalgeographic.com
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