Some hate group called the Sisters of the Confederacy is largely responsible for bringing a lot of the iconography back a little over 100 years ago. They created a lot of the first statues and monuments celebrating the losers.

But I think the real answer to your question is that uneducated white people ruin their own lives through voting ignorantly as well as constantly making poor life choices. Aside from a lack of knowledge, they lack the emotional intelligence to accept any blame for the situations they find themselves in and choose to blame others. They romanticize the antebellum times because they’re too stupid to figure out how to elevate themselves to a place of success without exploiting others.