content: I'm out of the loop why the confederate was banned.  It hasn't been banned, that would be unconstitutional in the United States as far as I know.  After the Charleston shooting there were pictures shown of the shooter with flags that have racist histories. I believe one was the Confederate flag. Next thing you know the media hype train starts making connections to racist violence and the Confederate flag. Then starts the activism about southern states having the flag displayed on state buildings (particularly South Carolina). Huge amounts of hype continue and major retailers jump on the PR bandwagon and say they aren't going to sell anything with the Confederate flag on it anymore (Walmart for example). This leads to some states changing their policies with regards to displaying the flag on government buildings. At the end of the day, it was a lot of hooplah about something that basically everybody knows (the flag should be treated for what it is, a symbol of racism and treason) and the media once again inflating the importance of a topic while ignoring the core reasons for it. They attack the symbol of hatred, not the hatred itself. I'll get off my soapbox now.