Carol Kelly

Why should we choose between a statue of Thomas Jefferson or a statue of Harriet Tubman. What irony. They’ve already destroyed so much art in the name of wiping out the Civil War, now they want black statues. MLK’s statue is big enough and ugly enough to cover it all. Why does a president have a 2 term limit and, on the other hand, why can Senators and Representatives serve forever no matter what they do?
Why can Mexican immigrants march with the Mexican flag in our streets, but we can’t fly the Confederate flag? Lots and lots of questions. Why, for instance, can armed terrorists plague our streets in all our major cities, burning and destroying, armed with guns and have no one stand up to them? Shouldn’t someone have said “enough” before so many have died?

Auntie Lulu

Bravo! Your questions and analysis of our current situation is absolutely spot on! Thank you.

saltwind 78 Loc: Murrells Inlet, South Carolina

Carol, The fact is that millions of Americans find statues of Confederate politicians, generals, confederate battle flags, etc. as symbols of slavery and Jim Crow times. They were traitors, but many became respectable citizens. They were put up not to honor the confederates, but to keep African- Americans in their place.
Many of the founders of this nation were slave owners. Up to the Civil War, it was acceptable. People like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were in part, products of their time. Guys like Robert E. Lee, and other military leaders of the confederacy were traitors. Even Lee said that monuments to the Confederacy and/or its leaders was not a good idea. I believe that the only acceptable place to display relics of the Confederacy is in museums, and textbooks.

Carol Kelly

Okay, then let’s condemn the flying of a Mexican and other flags. The Confederate States of America were not traitors, they simply availed themselves of the same privilege that the Revolutionaries availed themselves of in wishing to be free of the yoke of tyranny and overtaxation placed on them by Great Britain. The North was overtaxing them and they were demanding the rights given to all states by the Constitution.

Tiptop789 Loc: State of Denial

Can Mexicans march with a Confederate flag. Can you march with a Mexican flag? Go stand up to them.

Tiptop789 Loc: State of Denial

Your story line about over taxation is false. It wss about slavery & white supremacy.

bestpal38 Loc: Cedar City, Utah

Good point about the museum. So why are we allowing people to destroy this stuff, instead of putting it the museums. It's rediculous. As a kid, I had no desire to see the historical things, but as an adult, I love seeing this stuff, and learning about it. I disagree with your point that millions are offended. My guess is, about 90% of those bitching about, and destroying these statues, have no idea the historical meaning behind them.

bestpal38 Loc: Cedar City, Utah

Are you white?? If so, are you a white supremist?? I'm white, I don't even own a gun. I have never owned a slave. So yes, things happened in our past, that don't happen anymore. I don't think we are glorifying anything nefarious with the statues. It's history. What happened then is not going away. We can learn from it. Not all whites are evil. Not all blacks are criminals. Until we start treating each other as human beings, this will never go away. But you want respect?? Don't act like animals, that never ends well.

dtucker300 Loc: Vista, CA

I agree with much of what you say. Especially that many were placed throughout the South in the public square of cities and towns to keep Blacks in their place.

However, slavery was not only confined to the United States. Every country has had slavery and Africa has one of the worst records. It was the United States that led the anti-slave movement primarily starting with the ideas espoused in the Declaration of Independence. This peculiar institution was widespread throughout the world. Even though many of the founders were slave owners they wrestled with this evil that they inherited. They well knew a day of reckoning would come but also knew that the colonies needed to be united as one country to survive. Slavery was not completely acceptable up to the Civil War as it had been outlawed in many places decades before. The Constitution ended the importation of slaves in 1809.
Unfortunately, many who fought for the South died for the South. Most were not slave owners. In fact, only about 5% of whites in the south owned any slaves. There were black slave owners as well during that time.

Removal of confederate statues is warranted but not by mob rule. We need a historical perspective to come to a general consensus of what deserves to be removed and what remains. There are lessons to be learned by keeping some of these in the public eye and to be reminded of the evils so that we never forget. When the mob wants to remove statues of Jefferson or Washington because they owned slaves then there is no limit to the insanity and where it all will end. We need to go about this in a well-defined and orderly process by establishing commissions to study the issue and make recommendations after gathering public comment. Even renaming military bases named for Confederate military soldiers is not a slam-dunk. A rose by any other name... It is a mistake to try to erase history. This is a favorite tactic of the left and totalitarian regimes.

peg w

My family was divided by the civil war.After the war, the 2 parts of my family never spoke to each other afterwards. The rebel flag reminds me of that everytime I see it. That's my heritage. If I never saw a rebel flag again I would not miss it.

Sicilianthing

>>>

Ahhhh you nailed it Carol... great Post !

One of the worst of all times are the Mexican Scumbags...
La Raza, Aztlan, illegals, legal Mexicans, Anchor babies,
2nd, 3rd, 4th generation criminal families,
Chain Migrators all Communicating in their apps n chats and...

... organizing to March on our land and Flying their Colors of dissent, anarchy and non assimilation on full display in pursuit of destabilizing, Transforming, Replacing and Erasing Americans in their quest to overthrow and Conquer !

They are a Domestic Enemy and must be dealt with Swiftly and decisively on all fronts when Trump wins.

Pray hourly Trump wins because if he loses America is Doomed and will immediately spiral into Civil WAR !

Peewee Loc: San Antonio, TX

We the people should be allowed to vote and voice our personal choice on those things. Not have a mob of radicals protestors and officials decide it for us. We still created our government and they have forgotten who works for whom. Your support of the radicals gives you away. Sorry, you're just too obvious. One question though, how many kids must die to appease the radicals, for you? Born and unborn?

dtucker300 Loc: Vista, CA

It's still causing divisions in this country. So are many other things. Idiots are allowed to fly the confederate flag if they like but it still proves to the rest of us that they are idiots.

ldsuttonjr Loc: ShangriLa

If you review the 10 Amendment the South had every right! Spot on!

woodguru

It's hard to tell what is purely ignorance or simple obfuscation on what most informed people know.

objecting to tyranny is and was just that, objecting to society coming to the conclusion that slaves were human beings just like those who had owned them.

Confederates were traitors in objecting to the correct side of history, they were ignorant, selfish, and bigoted people, and this confederate flag is the symbol of that ignorance and bigotry.

The idea that there is some sort of proud heritage is just ridiculous, it is no different than if a person flew swastikas and claimed a proud heritage linked to nazi war criminals, exactly the same.

When my grandma as a teen aged girl found a red robe of a KKK leader in her father's trunk after he died, she was disgusted, and said she was glad he was dead. Had she proudly claimed that heritage that would be like claiming a proud heritage to the confederates and their flag.

You claim a heritage and a bond because there is something in you that sympathizes with the symbolism of what it means...there is no other claim to glory and heroism attached to the confederacy