Editor,
I understand that we as people can look at the same image and yet see different things because of our life experiences, but we need to be truthful about what we see. I have written about this issue before so please bear with me.
Amidst all the racial inequality and injustice this country has endured over the years and just recently by the police killings of unarmed black Americans, there has been renewed interest by the public in the removal of Confederate statues across the country.
These war memorials are relics of the Old South and do not include everyone’s history. Bentonville has committed to moving the Confederate statue in their town square to a private park.
Meanwhile as things are changing worldwide, our beloved Eureka Springs is deferring to the agenda of an outside group, Sons of the Confederate Veterans. The SCV subscribe to the “lost cause of the confederacy” which is an extreme distortion of actual history.
They have influenced our cemetery commissioners into thinking that it is fitting and patriotic to fly at least 40 Confederate flags all year long in our cemetery. Whether certain people want to admit it or not, this flag’s history is rooted in the Confederacy’s desire to own black people and today it is still supported through the KKK and civil rights opposition.
Again, this flag does not represent Southern ancestry or heritage; it represents treason, pain, hate and racism. The people who carried the Confederate flag tried to kill the people who carried the American flag. What does it take for people to see this flag in its true light? Why are we glorifying these flags in our public cemetery?
Kathy Attwood
The flag was resurrected in the 1920s and flown and carried in support of hate groups like the kkk. Since then it is completely recognized as the symbol of white supremacy. It is disingenuous to say it is used for any other reason.
I totally agree. That flag sends a continuing message of hatred and oppression. We’re better than that.
I couldn’t agree more! Especially since we have former slaves buried in our cemetery! This is an insult to the soldiers buried there who fought to free those blacks.
I agree. The flag is a symbol of treason and minority subjugation. Even NASCAR is banning it. Time to put that damn flag away and relegate it to our shameful history.