I’m sorry, but I just don’t see the connection between the Confederate flag and racism.

A “racist” is one who actually hurts someone because of his actions or skin color. Who does it hurt to fly a flag?

The present configuration of the Mississippi flag was agreed upon by a majority vote of 65 percent “for” and 35 percent “against” the flag bearing the Southern Cross in 2001. It is our flag belonging to Mississippi; it does not belong to any special interest group. So many things have been wrested from our hands in this state, regardless of our feelings. Just leave our flag alone!

The spin doctors have attempted to vilify our flag by saying it was meant to suppress blacks. It was not meant to suppress them, as a matter of fact, many of them fought and died for this flag while fighting in the confederacy.

Many of my ancestors and those of most other southerners lost their lives in a desperate effort to save the South.

The Emancipation Proclamation did not start the Civil War. It was not signed until two years after the war began. Slavery was a despicable thing that should have never happened, but at the time it was the way people were.

America was not the only country using African slaves at that time. Brazil, for example, was using six times as many; most of them dying in the awful jungle environment before having offspring. Personally, I wish slaves had never been brought out of Africa.

Japan and Germany lost to the allies in World War II. There are many instances that the American flag is flown in these countries today. I don’t see Germans or Japanese resenting our flag as an object of vengeance. The only people who burn Old Glory now are those countries that hate us. Judging by this yardstick, do people who hate Mississippi and the south in general hate us by wanting to take our flag away?

What we are seeing today is civil disobedience in response to other civil disobedience.

It’s like pushing down on an air mattress; press down a bulge on one part and another bulge will raise somewhere else of equal height.

The civil disobedience we have seen in Ferguson, Mo., Baltimore, Md., NYC, etc. is being met with civil disobedience in other places in response to it. Problems can be resolved but never with violence. Violence begets violence.

Remember that a racist is one who hurts another because of the actions of that person who may be of a different skin color. Robbing and looting in the name of civil rights has produced many racists of late in this country in response to these actions.

Stop it! Stop the killings, stop the rioting, stop the insane yelling and screaming and let calm heads prevail.

 

Ed Field, Natchez