Having lived in the south my whole life, I've seen this flag on swimsuits, bumper stickers, everywhere. It was never a symbol of racism, it has always been shown by us as a symbol of southern pride. Simply we are proud to live in the south. I have never owned the CSA flag, but I see it everywhere in North Carolina, and no one ever had a problem with it. Now, people are claiming it's racist. The flag was never a symbol of hate, like the Nazi Swastika, but more of a prideful symbol. I understand stores are banning it because they need to appeal to society to keep customers, but I can't believe it's a big deal in the first place, I never heard anyone complain about the flag before recently. I am very upset about what is going on with this now, because all my life it was never a sign of hate or anything, it just meant someone was a proud southerner - I compare it to someone having merchandise about the Republic of Texas - not a big deal, they're proud of their origin.