that's true, but it is done in _clear_ defiance of a well-understood recognition of what other people think it means. at least that is true here since, believe it or not, people on the coastal areas of florida and larger cities make fun of rednecks and white trash for sporting those rebel flags, for driving redneck-type trucks, etc. i have no doubt that, even within communities in Central and more rural areas of Florida, you can find the same dynamic. At any rate, I found it all pretty fascinating when I used to teach at the university, located in acoastal city, and then commute just 45 miles to teach at an extension campus in a rural area. My coastal students would ask me about the stupid rednecks i had to deal with, talk about how backward and racist they were, etc. (there was some truth to the backward thing. I remember being absolutely floored that one of my students was shocked to find out that gay men could be gorgeous, built, and work in respectable jobs making a good buck. !!!!)
anyway, the well-to-do white kids i described in a previous post will call blacks n-word in one instance and turn around and shout at rednecks on the road and tell them to head to ______ county (a county north of here, said to be redneck central) and get out of _their_ neighborhood.
so, i'd say that the people who sport it know what it means, but they aren't necessarily sporting it in an effort to show that they're racist. they're doing so to flip the bird at the rich white kids who say n-word and call rednecks racists.
kelley