Wrong Flag, Wrong Time, Wrong Moves

LARRY ANDERSON
Larry Anderson

The murders of nine Americans at worship in a church in Charleston, South Carolina, must go down as one of the most appalling, senseless, and cowardly acts of this young century. It was a shocking crime in a nation that seems to have no limits to horrific violence.

The Charleston shootings are all the more sickening because they were allegedly committed by a hate-spewing racist. A poorer excuse for a human being can not be found. I hope he pays hard.

This crime has raised other issues that must be examined apart, slightly, from the context in which they were raised.

The accused was photographed holding up the Confederate battle flag, a relic of an event and social order long gone. The flag is a reminder of the defense put up by eleven states 150 years ago to protect and preserve the vilest practice in American history–institutional slavery.

Many want the flag to come down in states where it is allowed to be flown at government facilities, and, perhaps, elsewhere. The debate is young, emotional, and justified.

For my part, I think the flag should come down if so determined by broad agreement within the individual states. We fought that war.

I admit I have wondered why institutions at the state level were still flying a flag that is so clearly a jab at the civil rights progress of black Americans. It symbolizes bad things from the past and an irrational determination to hang onto an era defeated through sacrifice.

It would be best if state officials would order the flags down permanently and the country went on, but it is rarely that simple in our society which feeds on controversy. Expect lawsuits and blather nonstop.

The burgeoning issue isn’t the battle flag–I think that will be resolved judiciously by a whole nation largely favoring its lower-ing–but what could follow, as engineered by the Left, the p.c.

sect, and race exploiters who see political opportunity extending

from the flag issue.

There could be an expanding of

the culture war.

Already there has been defacing of monuments and statues depicting figures of the Confederacy. Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis have now become targets of hate and not necessarily from the black community, but from the Left demonstrating its true colors.

There have been calls to tear

down the Stone Mountain monu-ment in Georgia which depicts Lee and Stonewall Jackson. Some want Confederate images struck from the stained glass windows in the national cathedral in D. C. Others want the images of important figures from the South removed from the Capitol.

Of course, the Left has renewed its propaganda that America is nothing more than a racist country that must be expunged of all references to race even if it means annihilating history. One commentator called for a cleansing of America.

We are on very dangerous ground here. Cultural cleansing amounts to total concession to one vociferous point of view. It reeks of intolerance.

Here’s what could happen if irrational demands get out of control.

We could see vicious attacks on America’s founders, notably those who were slaveholders. Washing-ton, Jefferson, and Jackson fit that description.

Shrill agitators could demand complete removal of their images throughout the nation. This could include currency, statues and portraits, and references in history books. All of these men’s accomplishments could be negated by one behavior.

Should Mount Rushmore be dynamited to please the offended? Two of those faces owned slaves.

Valued literature depicting the South during the slavery era could

be attacked. Indeed, the classic, Pulitzer Prize winner, Gone With

the Wind, has already been assault-ed by critics. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn could also be eliminated from public consumption for the racial pejoratives contained therein.

Never mind their larger meanings or the opportunity for historical insight that could be gleaned from intelligent discussion of these works.

How about a book burning? Would that please those who claim tolerance in their hearts?

It has happened before in history.

Harry Truman worked toward civil rights, but he also used racial pejoratives and told race-based jokes.

Should Harry be removed from

our conscience without analysis, without taking into account the time in which he lived?

Woodrow Wilson segregated Washington D.C. during his presidency. Should Woody be relegated to the cultural junk pile

and forgotten?

You get my point. Hopefully,

none of these things will happen,

but I can assure you the Left will

roll while they have momentum wrought by tragedy.

Going too far in the cleansing effort will create more divisiveness. At some point enough has to be enough.

We need to understand our nation’s flaws and failures, not sweep them from our collective conscience. Such efforts must be

met with resistance.

Larry W. Anderson’s novel, I, Eugenius, is available on Amazon.