I've come to the sad conclusion that most Americans are 1) younger than us, and 2) have difficulty relating any meaningful information to the terms "Civil War" or "Confederate". They don't know enough (or care to learn) what it was about. PC might apply to certain aspects of what they knew about it, but only if they knew.

My son returned from school one day and explained what he had learned in history class. My wife and I heard enough to understand that he was talking about our beloved Civil War. Unfortunately the way he had been taught, the Civil War was just like the War of 1812 and the Mexican War - wars won by the Americans over some foreign adversary.

Rather than open my mouth and get in trouble, I kept reading the newspaper (another old-folks practice). My wife explained all that was necessary.

"We didn't win the Civil War. We lost."

By the tone of his voice, it was clear that my son was shocked. "We lost?", he asked.

"Yes," my wife replied sadly, "we lost."

End of subject.