I’ve been struggling through Hillbilly Elegy (struggling because the writing quality is poor, IMO) but one of the themes in the book is the mass wave of folks transplanted from places south to Ohio and other parts of the Rust Belt. I wonder, @OHMomof2, if this explains the prevalence of confederacy symbolism in your state?
I have relatives in the deep South. They don’t see it as a “southern pride” thing. They see it for it’s racial symbolism. Perhaps at some point in history, it could be argued that it didn’t represent that. But it does now. One can sugarcoat it but it has been used by those who have an agenda. Why anyone who doesn’t have that agenda would wish to display it when it sends a message to so many and bothers so many is truly beyond my comprehension. I think those that do display it know quite well how it is read by others.