Southern anger: Nazis, KKK 'hijacking' Confederate debate

White Southerners who equate Old South symbols with regional pride rather than hate are even more on the defensive since neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klansmen and other extremists became the face of the fight over Confederate monuments.

With more than two dozen relatives who fought for the Confederacy, Robert Castello literally wears his Southern pride. The visor, suspenders and ring he donned Thursday were all emblazoned with the familiar design of the rebel battle flag.

But Castello, whose Dixie General Store sells Confederate-themed hats, shirts, stickers and signs in rural eastern Alabama, said he doesn't have any use for overtly racist groups like the Klan.

"When I was growing up it was like a badge of honor to be proud of your Southern heritage. It was taught and it was part of who you were," said Castello, 58. "To see it denigrated down to the point of Nazis is disgusting."

A leading Southern heritage organization, the Sons of Confederate Veterans, had no official involvement in the bloody protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, and its leader condemned the white supremacists who rallied for preserving a statute of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

"It's painful to watch, for lack of better words," said Thomas V. Strain Jr., the group's commander. "It was our family that fought, and it was our families that died, and now we have these knuckleheads hijacking the flag for their own purposes."

Social media feeds dominated by Southern whites contain similar criticism of extremist organizations, which watchdog groups have said were out in force in Charlottesville in the largest white supremacist gathering in years.

Southern anger: Nazis, KKK 'hijacking' Confederate debate