Maybe what we're seeing is a belated "de-Stalinization" of the South. Nowadays, most of the people who in earlier times likely would have defended Confederate symbols and their legacy root their "Southernness" in conservative Christianity and generic "Red State" culture, anyway.
This hits the nail on the head. More historically GOP states like Arizona and Oklahoma are becoming closer to states like Alabama as there is a gradual de-emphasis on "Dixieland" and more on "Christian, conservative, American."
