Why would a conservative not believe Robert E. Lee was a racist?

I was listening to conservative talk radio and once again, I heard something incredibly stupid. This was beyond stupid. The host, an apologist for the Southern Confederacy, asked a caller in mocking derision, did he the caller believe that Robert E. Lee was a racist. Um, yeah, of course he was a racist! The man owned slaves. I think it is safe to state that Lee (and heck virtually anyone alive at that time) would be easily considered racists today.

See, the host was defending the Confederate flag and the flying of it by Southern states. One of his defenses, is that it was technically the Confederate battle flag. Yeah, and so what? That apoogists for the Confederacy in the 1950s and today wave a flag that was used in battle. versus one flown at the Confederate capital of Richmond, is beyond any point. The fact is, a would be nation built on slavery used it, and Confederate apologists rally around it now. The KKK used it.

Now, if I was this caller I would ask this host this question, was George Wallace, the segreationist governor of Alabama during the Civil Rights era a racist? I would hope he would say of yes, of course. Well, Wallace didn't defend slavery, but Lee did. In fact, Lee was easier much more racist than Wallace.

I find it ironic that the people who blame the Democratic party for slavery and segreation ignore the fact that today, the Republican party in the South has ties to neo-Confederate groups. The parties changed by the ideology of that region didn't change completely. Yes, the South isn't the hotbed of racism that it was 50 years ago, but that is because it has become more liberal and secular over time.