If the South had been allowed to go its own way, it is quite possible that it would have gone on to abolish slavery around the same time as Brazil, for the same kind of reasons, and gone on to develop into,the same kind of racially mixed culture.

As it was the after effects of the war was a society in which white racism was at the foundation of a slow economic and social recovery.

The Confederate flag is the emblem of a racist system. But the same is true for the Stars and Stripes - representing a country founded on the genocidal theft of a continent, with slavery a tolerated and even cherished institution for its first 80 or so years as an independent nation, and for nearly 200 years awash with other types of racism. The flag of Abraham Lincoln is also the flag of General Custer and Lieutenant Calley.

But the thing is, that's not the whole story, either for the United States or the Confederacy. The Stars and Stripes has other meanings, and it is possible for people to try make those other meanings outweigh the evil meanings. In principle the same could be true for the Confederate flag. And if it can't be done for the Condederate Flag, it's hard to see how it can be done for the Union Flag.