It's become a virtual ritual. A Southern state legislature, a Southern governor, a Southern heritage group, or school board defiantly announces that the Confederate flag will fly on state property, at a state sponsored Civil War celebration or commemoration, on a school, or will be stamped on a personalized license plate. The predictable happens. The NAACP or local civil rights groups, or black leaders loudly denounce the flag and announce the launch of mass protests and a campaign to get the flag defenders to back down.