Are there any LIBERAL or National Public Radio types who respect the Confederacy or its military figures?

Although I like the confederacy and like to see history and the memorialization of it stay—its part of the region where I live and part of my childhood in national military parks— I certainly understand why many want to see this epoch of slave-holding states consigned to museums and state parks.

It has become the symbol and idol of white supremacy groups. So although I like the monuments, parks, flags, and memorabilia, I understand the controversy and how it is used and interpreted is not worth the discord and hate and controversy, when we should all be unifying.

But here is something I remember that I want to ask about.

When I was an undergrad in college—I worked at the Mississippi Valley Collection—the Special Collections, Rare Books and Archives at my university library the entire time I was in college.

My bosses and co-workers were historians, history students, and law students. They were not conservatives by any stretch—they were more like National Public Radio types. They would probably reserve judgement on the display of the flag but would say what WOULD happen if you displayed it

Although somewhat liberal, as many History Graduate students are, they seemed to know volumes about the South’s president, military leaders, battles, battle sites, etc. and usually had a more balanced view of history than those who see it merely as racial division.

I don’t recall any of them being averse to the confederacy or its figures or monuments. They were kind of neutral.

My question is—do these people still exist? Is it possible to have a penchant for the confederacy and an interest in the Civil War without politicizing it—and even having a respect for the confederacy and its leaders—without being judged as an advocate for White Supremacist views?