Confederate Memorial Day and political correctness
In Tuesday’s “Our View,” the writer lamented the continuance of observing Confederate Memorial Day in Mississippi. Before I go further, I did not celebrate it and was not even aware it was that time of year. The arguments the writer posed to stop observing Confederate Memorial Day can be turned around.
If CMD becomes extinct, at least officially, what about Juneteenth? While not an “official” state holiday, it commemorates an event from that same era. Don’t want Gen. Rob’t E. Lee’s birthday to be remembered? Let’s forget about the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s official birthday. Want to do away with all the statues of Confederate soldiers? Let’s rename every street named in honor of Dr. King, too.
I have ancestors who fought for the State of Mississippi during the war, and other relatives who fought for other Southern states as well as many Northern ones. So what? Memorial Day is to honor US soldiers, not Confederate ones, as I understand it, even though it began as a way to honor all fallen soldiers in the war.
While some fought to continue slavery, most fought because their home state did. PERIOD. Most Rebel soldiers did not own slaves. The issue of slavery was used then, as now, to inflame passion on both sides. Lies about it abounded, and still do today. Was there some cruelty to slaves? Who knows for sure? Probably, but would you mistreat a valuable piece of property, which is what slaves were? No matter today, because it is all in the past so distant that there is nobody alive today who lived it.
That period of time was a “romantic” period in US history. Gentlemen were gentlemen and ladies were ladies, and they acted accordingly. People like to re-live the past for romantic reasons, nostalgia, to honor their ancestors, or just for fun. No law says anybody has to like it or agree with it, but banning it is a miscarriage of justice, and serves no good.
If the Columbus Pilgrimage offends anyone, that’s their problem, no one else’s. That era is gone, and will never return. Slavery was wrong then, and still is, but I hear very few people decrying the slavery that goes on today in the Middle East. OH! That’s right! We don’t dare condemn anything Muslims do for fear of insulting them.
I have long wondered why blacks vote Democrat, en masse, when it is Democrat policies that have produced the deplorable conditions so many blacks “enjoy” today. Lincoln was a Republican, but that was a long time ago, and the parties have switched roles since then.
Political correctness is destroying the freedoms we enjoy in America. Don’t like Obama? You’re a racist. Don’t like Hillary? You’re a sexist. I urge everybody to take a breath and look at the big picture. Forget skin color and gender. Forget financial status, and everything else. Vote for the person who best fits the office being sought. That way everybody wins, and forget about petty past grievances that really don’t matter any more.
Cameron Triplett
Brooksville
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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