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, but I just want to clear up a couple of things. First of all there is no such thing as "the Confederate flag", since there were at least 50 different Confederate flags. What South Carolina is flying is one of the 26 battle flags used by the Confederate armies, and is not the "Stars and Bars" as many people have called it. 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. During the reconstruction the Ku Klux Klan adopted the 1864 Army of Tennessee battle flag as their own. 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?

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.