I just don’t get the relevance of this. We’re discussing a culture, not individual people. We’re discussing a culture that embraced a symbol that was used by the KKK, and their whitewash of claiming it wasn’t about racism. We’re discussing a culture that was whitewashing the Confederacy not to be about slavery. We’re talking a culture that embraced a racist dogwhistle. We’re talking about a culture that so devalued what black people thought that it didn’t occur to them to check to see how they felt about not only the Confederate flag but all the Confederate monuments that were accompanying it.
Sure, because of that culture, a lot of individuals didn’t realize the problem. But that doesn’t change that all the culture around that flag was racist in origin. Ignoring the racist implications of something is a racist thing to do.
Hippie counterculture already had their flags of peace. They didn’t need a flag of war to represent them, let alone the flag of a failed country that was against all of their positions. There’s a reason why you don’t think of hippies when you think of the Confederate flag. In the South, that flag causes you think of the establishment, not the counterculture.
Again, I don’t blame any individuals, because I grew up not knowing how bad that flag was (though I admit I also never really saw the appeal). But I can’t deny that all the culture that grew up around that flag was racist in origin.
That said, to go back to the OP, that flag is not actually representative of Southern Culture. And, no, not all of it comes from slaves. The Southern hospitality culture has more to do with being poor, for example. And, well, most of the foods we associate with black stereotypes came from being poor people food.
That’s not to say slavery and black culture isn’t a part of Southern Culture, or that we don’t need to stop separating the two. We shouldn’t assume by default that Southern Culture means “White Southern Culture.” What I’m saying is that it’s not as simple as saying it’s all cultural appropriation from black people and slave culture.
That said, I’ve never really understood the level of pride that Southerners put in their culture. Nor do I understand any pride based on geographical location—surely it has to be the culture you are proud of. And all cultures have their warts, so I don’t understand being so proud you want to hide those.