The Confederate battle flag, we are victims of political correctness 

There is no question that for the South the Civil War was about one thing; preserving slavery. Despite the fact only a small percentage of enlisted Confederate soldiers were slave owners, they were all invested in the institution of slavery. For the North the primary goal was preservation of the Union, not to end slavery. It is also a fact the more than 600,000 Americans died during the conflict of which about 260,000 were Confederates.

While the Confederacy was on the wrong side of humanity and history, they were willing to die for a way of life, the only life they knew.

Slavery and the Civil War are part of history. The Confederate soldiers deserve our respect just as Grant treated them at Appomattox  and as Lincoln hoped to reconcile with the South.

The real Confederate Flag

The Confederate battle flag may have been hijacked by hate groups, but removing it from view will not, as one women was quoted, “eliminate racism.”  Another symbol will emerge as it always does. As we have done so often in the past, we press the case for political correctness, move on in a few days and leave real problems unresolved.

Let’s just hope this flag fever passes before the PC crowd decides to bulldoze Confederate cemeteries, tear down monuments or blow up Stone Mountain mirroring the ignorance of the Taliban and ISIS in their destruction of antiquities.

But it’s worse already. The National Park Service has removed Confederate flags from the bookstore at Gettysburg National Park. That is disgusting plain and simple. 

If we seek to disown every ancestor and every social norm that does not meet today’s standards, there will be few individuals left to honor. Why not remove every flag of every regiment that fought in the Indian wars or the Spanish-American war for that matter? 

Should we ban the cross and American flag for promoting racism? 

Guns don’t kill people as they say, flags don’t cause racism and unfortunately the removal of either will not end racism or violence.

The television executives and retailers who have jumped on this bandwagon are self-serving cowards who in the final analysis are trampling our First Amendment rights.

I have no ties to the South. In fact, my ancestor fought in the Union army. However, I respect history and the right to pay respect to it and those that created it. The Confederate battle flag is a symbol of great sacrifice. The fact some individuals abuse it, is not the flags fault.

What will happen when some nut case kills a bunch of people with the American flag emblazoned on his shirt or jacket, flying from his pickup truck or as the background on his Facebook page?

Americans must be the most gullible people on earth.