Editor, Commonwealth:
You know, it’s funny how some people drum up controversy by accusing others of drumming up controversy, when all that is needed is a yes or no. Had the accusations not started flying, the motion that Leflore County District 2 Supervisor Robert Moore made on doing away with the county’s Confederate Memorial Day holiday might have died with little or no notice. So who was it who displayed a knee-jerk reaction? If you don’t take a stance one way or the other, why not just step aside? If this issue is enough to divide the community, then it tells me that it was never together to begin with.
There is a growing desire in our nation to shed its symbols of past atrocities, especially those which are associated with any suggestion of any possibility of a reoccurrence. How can we suggest how other nations should heal their differences when we boldly celebrate the negative ideologies of our shaded past? More and more Southern states are coming clean to show their sincere wishes to bring about peace and harmony in our country. But if this is to be the case, we all must show it with our actions rather than just speaking about it. We already have plenty of examples, even today, which show that bigotry and racial hatred still exist. So much so that even the word “Confederate” causes controversy, because there is so much hurt, hatred and shame associated with it.
I realize the brave soldiers on both sides of the Civil War were carrying out what they felt was their parrotic duty, and as such, deserve the honor give to any soldier. What better way to honor them than on the same day all of our country’s veterans are honored, unless there is a hidden agenda lurking somewhere.
What if a doctor told you that you had a cancer growing in your colon, but the good news is that some part of the colon can be removed with little or no digestive problems? The colon does not have the most desirable function in the body, but nevertheless it does what it is supposed to do unless something such as cancer causes it to malfunction. You wouldn’t tell the doctor to leave a little bit of the cancer so you can remember that you had cancer ... We know what will be the result of that.
It is the soldiers that should be memorialized and not the inhumane cause for which the Confederacy was established.
I read that during the Civil War, 600,000 soldiers died. ... In some cases it was brother against brother, cousin against cousin and so on. ... And that’s not counting the many civilians, both black and white, who lost their lives because of hostilities. We all know what the cause of the war was and I hope we can all agree that it’s not something we want to memorialize.
Mr. Moore offered a compromise to place the Confederate Memorial Day holiday with some other holiday. Meanwhile, some other supervisors make excuses to stay in the middle of the road. If you can’t say where you stand now, it leads one to wonder just exactly where you do stand or if you can even stand at all.
Taking into consideration the gruesome trend that is plaguing our nation today, the subject is not going to go away.
It would be a sincere gesture of empathy and good will if this holiday was discontinued voluntarily rather than waiting for it to become another blight on Mississippi’s history. I, for one, would like to see the holiday discontinued and replaced with a celebration that will bring communities together. ... And, by the way, what about the opinions of our county residents, both black and white, or do we not county anymore?
T.W. Cooper
Greenwood
