Dear Editor,
For 85 years the American Flag flew over the Southern States — areas that allowed slavery. Prior to that, the British Flag, the French Flag and the Spanish Flags all flew over some areas of the South. For four short years, the Confederate Flag flew over that same area.
So, how is it that the Confederate flag represents hatred, according to many today, including President Obama, and the American flag does not?
In 1861, when the Civil War began, slavery was legal according to US Law. Two years into the war, after the North had suffered several important defeats, and the people of the North had grown disenchanted with the war and wanted an armistice, President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This act provided the Northern Army with a new source of soldiers and rallied those who were racially motivated. In the Northern Army, black soldiers were ill-treated by their white commanders. This continued until after WWII!
By contrast, a number of “Free Southern Blacks” fought for the Confederacy. So how is it that the flag that “Free Southern Blacks” fought for now represents racism and hatred?
In the last century, there has been an attempt at a major rewrite of history, but facts occasionally “get in the way” of those rewrites!
Edmond V. Schwab, Sr.