Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 6, 1993 TAG: 9306070125
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: F2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
One headline (Dec. 16, 1992) suggested we "Lower the flag of slavery," while a May 10 commentary by Ray Recchi claimed the "Confederate flag is a museum relic." The latter expressed surprise that the United States, while able to make peace with all its former enemies (Germany, Japan, Russia and Mexico, to name a few), had never been able to make peace with that province of the American empire known as the "South." It is easily understood when you recognize that this country continues to attack the region's people, culture, heritage and symbols, for which it sacrificed its wealth, power and the flower of its valorous youth.
Biased Northern historians have created the myth that the struggle for Southern independence was nothing more than a ruse to keep a race of people enslaved and in misery for their own benefit, and the Southern war effort was the equivalent of the German genocide of the European Jew.
Lies, myths and distortions abound concerning the Civil War. The tone of disrespect, disparagement and derision continues unabated. Do you suppose Japan, Germany, Russia or Mexico would continue to be our buddies if we continued to hold and occupy their countries, while at the same time we made every effort to denigrate their people? Of course not!
The following descriptive characteristics of today's society are antithetical to those existing in the South in 1860: drug-riddled, bureaucratic, secular, debt-ridden, greed-centered, immoral, crime-ridden, tax-burdened, etc. Where did we go wrong? I think I know: 1860.
I do not look to the Clintons, Kennedys or Wilders for inspiration or real leadership toward worthwhile goals, for they are part of the liberal elite that has undermined the power of the states and usurped the powers of the people. I look to inspired leadership and political philosophy of men like Washington, Jefferson, Madison, etc., who understood the maxim that "that government is best which governs least."
I will never condone or accept lowering the Confederate flag, or having it relegated as nothing more than a museum relic. It is a living symbol of all that was good in the South and in the original government under the Constitution. And it is a symbol of our undying belief in the self-determination of Southern people - black, white, red or whatever. Our bond is our belief in and love for Southern tradition and culture. WAYNE D. CARLSON RADFORD
by CNB