Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, April 25, 1994 TAG: 9404260011
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: NINO A. SYLMAR
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
First, I wish to point out that being of mixed ancestry (Spanish-Filipino-Tahitian-Malaysian-and heaven-knows-what-else), and having immigrated to this country as a very young man, I doubt if I can be branded a bigot or racist for what I'm about to gripe about.
Though born overseas, I grew up and played with American children who were dependents of U.S. military and civilian personnel stationed abroad. Most of these American families, who helped shape my life in those formative years, were Southerners. Thus, it's to be expected that I came to learn and love the Southern way of life. I married a Southern girl, all my in-laws are from the South, my two children were born and raised in the South, and most of my adult life has been spent living and working in the South and the Deep South. Despite the fact that my face is generally looked at as that of a ``foreigner's,'' my heart is as Southern as beans-and-cornbread and fried green 'maters.
Which brings me to the subject of the Confederate flag and my gripe. Where, pray tell, on this honorable piece of cloth bearing stars and bars, does it conjure up any hint of oppression of any ethnic group, or any indication that this flag was primarily carried around while blacks were being shackled into slavery or being strung up on the highest tree? Nowhere. Rather, the Confederate flag stands for the valor and courage of those who died in the battlefields: the red background on the flag for blood spilled by heroic soldiers fighting for a cause they believed to be justified and patriotic; the stars for the glistening tears of grieving widows and mothers left behind; and the dark-blue bars for the deep hurt and confusion of little children when told their daddies weren't coming back home again. To me, that's what the Confederate flag symbolizes. Nothing more.
I served 10 years with the U.S. Air Force in intelligence work to help stem the cancerous spread of communism and its attack on human decency and freedom. And I'll be damned if I'm going to sit idly by and let those in high places erode our rights as Americans to uphold and preserve our heritage.
Come Flag Day, I'm flying my Confederate flag, along with the American flag, outside my home, and I dare anyone to try and force me to take either one down.
Nino A. Sylmar of Pulaski is a former newspaper reporter.
by CNB