Honor the Confederate Flag! If that flag offends you, then go re-Learn American History! To Ebay, Amazon, Etsy, Walmart, the Governor of South Carolina, and Everyone Else; The Confederate flag is NOT a symbol of hatred and racism, or at least it should not be. The Battle Flag of the confederacy was a rallying point, for which our forefathers fought and died defending in what they felt was right (for them at that time). It was a time of great national divide, when the southern states left the union to form their own government because the central government was run by deceitful men that did not respect the rule of law, nor the US Constitution for which they were obligated to uphold. At that time, those states believed they had the Right to withdraw from the union and form their own country. When Lincoln (now a foreign government) unconstitutionaly sent an army into the newly formed Confederate States of America, the people rose to defend their homeland. Only a small fraction of the people fought to keep slavery. The vast majority, whether manipulated by their leaders or not, fought to defend their homes and families. The Battleflag is not a symbol of hate, but points to the greater challenge of overcoming ignorance and bigotry in our highly blended society of many peoples. As our school systems have adopted a political-correctness, not teaching history as it really happened, our children and our society has just become "stupid ". And from ignorance, comes hatreds, and all of the other problems that further divides us. Please do NOT allow the Confederate flag to be removed from public grounds, or any where else it flies. It is as much an American flag and the Stars and Stripes. Rather, we need remove the ignorant and cowardly politicians from office. The problem is not with the flag, but with our entire educational system! The fault belongs directly with our leaders, at all levels of government, in allowing political correctness, Common Core, and the "dumbing-down " of our children to continue. Our leaders and educators are charged with teaching our children and our citizens the truth of our American history and our heritage in our school systems, yet they have allowed gross inaccuracies and deceptions to prevail. Instead, our politicians promote hatred and division among the many racially and culturally different groups that make up this great and wonderful experiment called "America". This must not continue... Why dont they teach the truth about the American Civil War, how it was a struggle of independence from a centralist government imposing its will on the States, and individual rights? Why dont they teach the truth about the Battle Flag, being the rallying symbol for the fight against the northern invaders. Yes, America does have periods of an often dark and ugly history, it must not be "white-washed" and removed it as if it didnt happen. Slavery happened. Wars happened. Hatreds among all peoples and groups continue to happen. Its tragic, its sad, but history is about what happened, the hows and whys, and with the hope that knowing about our past, maybe we can prevent such things from happening again. Taking down the flag does Not change the history, nor does it solve the problem of ignorance and violence. If our other leaders will not defend truth and teach our American history as it really happened, our heritage, protect our rights and freedoms, then they need to step down! The Confederate Flag is not a symbol of hate, but it has been made into one by ignorant people. It is up to you and I to change that. Keep the flag where it flies. Thank you!