I’m not sure where you’re getting that from, because that’s exactly what the CSA is like in Deadlands, particularly as described in the Back East supplement. The CSA basically wins the war by giving up on slavery and embracing equality. In the post-war CSA, racism is a thing of the past.
The Deadlands CSA is based on a flawed understanding of the real-world Confederacy, one that was (and in some places still is) commonly taught in schools in the South. This glorified, whitewashed version of the Confederacy was created by racists who wanted to reshape the narrative of the ‘War of Norther Aggression.’
Just to be clear: there is no indication that the authors were racist when they came up with the Deadlands setting: quite the opposite. But they seem to have fallen for what was at the time a commonly accepted, but completely inaccurate picture of the Confederacy. It is a depiction that is offensive, and that contributes to division and even violence to this day.
Of course the Flag that people use as the Confederate Flag was not actually the Confederate Flag, it was the Battle Flag of Virginia.
After the war it served a dual purpose, one nefarious which people latch onto with today, and one which isn't quite as nefarious, though some would say it is not necessarily a good thing either.
The first was that it was resurrected by a band of terrorists and racists that, though they fell under the banner of the latter meaning (which I'll address), had another purpose of enforcing the idea of white supremacy. This idea of white supremacy is what their flag stood for, not actually the CSA.
Obviously, that is NOT why an African American would fly the flag or be proud of it, or I would think that would not be a reason.
The OTHER item the flag stood for was as a standard of state independence. It stood for the idea that even though defeated, they still had their identity and were still able to make decisions as states. Unfortunately this manifested itself in many of the wrong ways, but it stood as a defiance against a strong Federal Government after the carpet baggers and the Northern control left the South. It also represented the idea that one does not have to be ashamed of their ancestors, especially if they viewed them as having served loyally.
Have no mistake, the Civil War was OVER Slavery, but States Rights vs. Federal Rights (or Amendment 10) was also VERY MUCH at the heart of the issue. For those Slave states that did NOT rebel (and there were slave states that were very much part of the union who were fighting to preserve the Union, NOT to get rid of slavery) in many ways it was more focused on this issue. Lincoln was no Saint and he had no desire to end slavery of his own accord.
The South's reason for going to War was absolutely over their fears of Slavery being ended (and you can blatantly see it in their secession proclamations). However, Lincoln and the North's original reason for going to war had NOTHING to do with Slavery, but with the right of the State to actually secede and whether it could do so. It was about the Union. It was only after several years and seeing that perhaps this purpose was not as strongly a unifier as needed that Lincoln issued the idea of freeing the slaves. At this, it was STILL NOT over slavery perse, as the slaves in the NORTH WERE NOT FREED by this. Slavery continued at full steam in the Northern slave states.
Which makes it ironic that AFTER the War, in many ways, things got reversed. While the North saw it as over Slavery, the South started to see it over States Rights. In this, things got a life of it's own. This also meant that the Battle Flag of Virginia descended into a representation of several things, one of which is that of those who felt firmly that the Federal Government had too much power. It also stood for having a regard for those who were ancestors of those who fought in the Confederacy, and not having to feel shame about those ancestors. More aptly, that those ancestors that one was descended from do NOT make you a bad person, just because of their actions (which is what some STILL want to paint anyone who is descended from people in the Confederacy today as, evil people, even if those descendants themselves are Black, or another ethnicity other than white).
This idea of states rights, with the fervent protests and demanding that the Confederate Flag (or more aptly the Battle Flag of Virginia) is connected to slavery still exists, it just has moved onto adopting other symbology rather than that particular symbol. One of the more popular ones is going back to the Revolutionary war and adopting the Don't Tread on Me Flag.
The issue I think is one where neither side is really listening to the other and instead of talking about a middle ground, each side is too busy arguing rather than listening. It's easier to label some group as racists and glorifying slavery rather than try to hear why their reasons for flying a certain flag or wishing to have a certain ideas. At the same time it's easier to label others in a different group rather than try to hear about the good things a solid federal government can do in helping those in need or promoting those from lower social and economic strata in climbing the ladder of economic and social mobility.
As I said, I don't know exactly what the reasons were for my neighbors flying the flag, but I do not feel it was ignorance. That is just as insulting to their intelligence as any other idea in that arena. I think they fully knew what and WHY they did so. Perhaps they had ancestors who fought in the Civil war, perhaps they felt that the issue of States Rights was an important thing, or perhaps they just wanted to feel pride in where they came from. I HIGHLY DOUBT African Americans who flew the flag did so out of ignorance, but in many cases probably were MORE educated about the issue than I am or many others.
However, it DOES highlight one item brought up which was also touched lightly upon by the Deadlands creator in their reasons to make the changes they did. In this thread we have different opinions on the issue of the CSA and the Civil War. Much of the focus has been regarding the Civil War rather than the game itself and the other ways this change may affect it. Some have lightly touched upon it (backgrounds for example), but a lot has also been focused on the Civil War as well.
The creator seems to explain (at least from what I read) that Deadlands is supposed to be a fun game to play, not some historical exposition to cause intense discussion of historical ramifications and historical context at the table. People are supposed to sit down together and have fun rather than have one point of game history bring up different opinions and possibly cause disagreements (or worse, rifts and falling out about it) at the game table. By changing this, I imagine the idea is to get people to focus less on what some may consider a controversial idea, and more on having fun in an Old West Fantasy Game.
PS: It should be noted that although the Battle Flag of Virginia was what was used as representing the Confederate flag later on, though it was not the Confederate flag in practice, DID appear on the Confederate flag in a smaller design. It was normally on the top Left corner or on the Left side against a Field of White, or later a Field of White with a red Stripe to the Right. The Battle Flag used later to represent those who had a Southern Background also was used more fully as the Naval Flag of the time, which was more the size used today in those types of flags, rather than the more square banner utilized otherwise in Virginia and later on by rebellious groups. One difference that is missed is the KKK flag originally was the square version of the crossbars and stars, while the Naval Flag was the more rectangle version which is more in line with the dimensions of the flags we use today, if I understand them right (not a specific flag historian myself). The misconception today is mixing up the flag the KKK used (the battle flag of Virginia which is square) with the Naval Flag (which is rectangular). They traditionally represented separate things though they appeared very similar, one representing more racism in the past, the other representing the idea of states rights and pride in a southern heritage.
