re: 5 Reasons not to ban the confederate flag

We can't ask the Southern political leadership why they seceded. But we can read the states' declarations of secession.

Here they are:
LINK

I'll give you a summary: There's several things we aren't happy about, but the main thing is the Federal government is no longer protecting our property rights, specifically our slave property. They are misguided in conferring the rights of U.S. citizens to slaves. The Negro's natural place is in subservience to the White race. The federal government no longer serves or respects our most critical right, so we are seceding.

Look, it all sounds crazy in 2015. Alot of water under the bridge since then. But that's why they did it. They just could not imagine the kind of society we have now even barely functioning. Not that we don't have a good bit of social tension. They just didn't see it as a possible alternate.