No, I believe the Civil War would not have happened if it were not for the issue of slavery. It was inherent in the Southern culture and the dependence upon it economically was crucial to defining the culture. The battle flag was and is an emblem of slavery. This is well-known and accepted by most black people who recognize that they have been held back by the attitudes of some of the white Southerners who still care to fight the Civil War. It insults their intelligence to assume anything else. I think that it's appropriate that it was picked up by the Klan because the Klan is an outgrowth of Southern Confederate culture. This was it's raison d'etre. It's significant that many African-American troups entered the Civil War with eagerness and devotion, not to the unifying of the States but with the goal of ending the repressive racism of the South.

Frank Hamilton