Siouxsie of the banshees infamously wore a swasticka and never lived it down. an attempt to show others their own shadow through a wearing of the shadow? keep calling everything racist or a hate crime and you will have continually diminished free speech. watch for use of the word "crazy" to be considered hate speech sometime in the next 8 years. oh yeah, look for words to be off limits in songs and literature too. it might hurt the children. maybe, and I might be crazy in saying this, but maybe people are tired of the mass judgements on everything and just want to say "f- you" by rebelling and the confederate flag is one way of doing this. sensitivity issues carried too far lead to sensitivity legislation which is definitely a mixed blessing. personally I'd rather live in an imperfect world rather then one that is so legislated that all is secure and non hurtful nor demeaning. human attempts to create perfection in society inevitably lead to an overly rigid legal structure. a healthy society may need some tolerance for expression that others object to. let the tree bend in the wind.