The Failure of Reconstruction and Its Consequences

Why are we here in the year 2017 still having to deal with racist morons flying the battle flag of a traitorous slaveowners’ rebellion that was defeated more than 150 years ago and other manifestations of white supremacy that draw on that utterly reactionary heritage?  One of the main reasons, I would argue, is that the Confederacy was never put six feet under in the grave yard where it belonged.   In the name of national reconciliation, the traitorous rebels were never properly punished. Moreover, they remained largely in control of their old plantations, if no longer owning human chattel.