Displaying a Confederate flag nowadays is a  politically incorrect no-no. But since I have had one tattooed on my right shoulder for 41 years I don't think I'll lose any sleep over it. It doesn't represent a racial putdown or any promotion of slavery to me. It's a symbol of where I'm from and--redneck and trailer park jokes aside--I'm damned proud to be a Southerner.

Sure, we have some bad history. But we have a history, which is something a lot of other parts of this allegedly free country doesn't have.