I definitely see where you ' re coming from here . I ' ve had conflicting views on this as a Northerner . I understand that propaganda in the South is powerful , and in general there is a certain amount of pride you feel in where you come from , even though it may be screwed up or have lots of problems . For example , people always seem to say Oh you ' re a commie you ' re fucking ANTIAMERICAN but I ' ve never seen it this way . America has always had problems , but also has many silver linings . Most of my national pride is based in the struggle around those issues . Yes , America is a rich man ' s playground full of racism , sexism , and jingoism . But America ' s labor struggles are legendary , and learning about all these past comrades fills me with a level of pride that is difficult to describe . In a way , I recognize it is nationalist , but more in a antijingoist sort of way , completely opposite from what a right winger would believe . I ' m very proud of my country , but it ' s typically for all the things the right wing hates . I ' m not proud of the bigotry and inequality I ' m proud of all the people that gritted their teeth through tough times and decided this is my home , and I ' m going to make it better amidst all of the naysayers . Our living standard is the direct result of people with that mentality , it wasn ' t handed down to us by capitalists , the laborers fought for that , and I think in that way I pay my respects to them . In that vein , I ' d say that I ' m not AntiAmerican , it ' s more that I love the part of America that popular culture and the media always try to suppress . They don ' t want people to learn about The Real America because people might feel emboldened to carry on those struggles . So , I ' ve never accepted that AntiAmerican bullshit . In the same vein , I feel for people when they have to deal with AntiSouthern sentiment , because lots of intense labor struggles were fought in the South . If I were a Southerner , I ' d be proud to share a bloodline with those folks . Of course , I ' ve never seen this as a license to support the Confederate Flag , either . It ' s just something I ' ll never be able to wrap my head around . Maybe someone from the South can explain it better , but I cringe when I see fellow Northerners flying it and often times feel it wouldn ' t be any different if I were born south of the mason dixon . If I were a Southerner trying to uphold the true rebel spirit of the south , I ' d be looking at the coal miners or railroad workers , or the socialists in OK THOSE are the real rebels , and I think it ' s sad that this history has become twisted and coopted so heavily by the right wing with redneck culture . It ' s gotten so bad that I think some people have come to believe redneck to be synonymous with racist backward religious and a whole host of things the left often rejects or criticizes . I know some Southerners are working hard to change that , and some always have , but I wish there were a more concerted effort to combat this false propaganda .