Confederate Flag or Klan Flag: What is the real issue here?

A lot has already been written and said about the issue of South Carolina flying "the Confederate flag" over it's capital. Now I am not going to tell people if what they believe is right or wrong, but I do want to clear up a couple of things. There are many things that have been said regarding this issue that are incorrect, and since I am a Civil War reenactor, and someone who knows a lot about Confederate flags I want to set the record straight.

First of all there is no such thing as "the Confederate flag". Believe it or not there were at least 46 different Confederate flags, and South Carolina is flying only one of them. The flag flying over South Carolina has also been called "the battle flag", well of the 46 different Confederate flags 26 of them were battle flags. This flag has also been called the Stars and Bars. The Stars and Bars was the First National Flag of the Confederate nation, what South Carolina is flying is a battle flag and the two flags don't even look the same. The actual name of the flag that South Carolina has chosen to fly is the 1864 Army of Tennessee battle flag.

When you look at the history of the 1864 Army of Tennessee battle flag this entire argument takes on a whole new light. Okay so the 1864 Army of Tennessee battle flag is a Confederate flag, but after the Civil War it was still used, while the others were packed away. During the reconstruction the Ku Klux Klan adopted the 1864 Army of Tennessee battle flag as their own. Now South Carolina is flying that very flag from it's capital! The Ku Klux Klan's use of this Confederate flag is a very important issue that seems to be over looked by many people. I just have one simple question regarding this argument; is every one really upset because South Carolina is flying a Confederate flag, or are we offended by the flag of the Ku Klux Klan?

The Civil War was fought over many different causes and the many Confederate flags stood for and represented every one, not just slavery. As a nation we need to accept the past and stop generalizing history. The flag of the Ku Klux Klan however does symbolize hatred, white supremacy and the Klan. I can completely understand why people take offence to them and their flag.

In order to finally solve this issue and put it to rest we need to first identify the problem. If people are really upset by the appearance of the Confederate flag then that is one thing. However, if the problem is not a Confederate flag but the flag of the Ku Klux Klan, which is what South Carolina is flying, then it is a far different matter. Only after we decide what the real problem is can we put this entire issue to rest.