Thanks! I guess my followup question would be "why didn't we do that after the Confederacy lost?" I assume something to do with the states having a bit of rebellion still and the Union not being able or willing to go down to enforce it. You'd think someone would've had an issue with it before now.
That flag wasn't actually used to represent the confederacy while the confederacy existed; it was rejected. It got popular during World War 2, because units made up of southerners liked to fly it to represent their southerness. Then the Dixicrats picked it up, and it started getting flown at state houses and incorporated into flags.
See, I explain it like this: I've never liked the flag because of what it represents to me. But, as you alluded to, it was a such a small issue. There was no point in bringing it up, especially in the South, because the "heritage not hate, pride not racism" crowd would defend it and it'd just end up wasting energy. The shooting put the flag in the political crossfire. The timing allowed people to critique the flag and actually win the political battle. Politicians don't look good defending it right now, really cause there isn't a very good defense of it. I actually think people in S.C. have been trying to get it taken down for months. The shooting just gave them the political momentum. As to why it's stuck around. Well that's a lot of history about reconstruction and the Jim Crow era South. But you're on the right track.