Actually they are symbols of regional representation or fighting for a lost cause.
The later seeming more appropriate now.
This is what the bearers will tell you.....
If you want to associate it with slavery then that could be done with practically every flag or monument from that era.
And to be clear I wouldn't personally own or display a confederate flag.........
You may not own or display it but you seek to whitewash what is is which is perhaps more reprehensible. It is a symbol of insurrectionist states who sought to destroy the country in order to preserve slavery. The people who displayed it many years ago were traitors and the people who do so today are no better.