Our apologies for being white and born and raised in Southern America (Macon, GA)…. Our apologies that some of our ancestors fought in the War Between the States on the side of the South….Our apologies that Georgia adopted and flew a state flag that contained the Battle Flag of the Confederate States of American on its face for a period of years after the civil rights act was enacted by the U. S. Congress….
Our apologies that a demented ass, who was white, saw fit to enter a black church, where he was welcomed with open hearts and arms, and he then saw fit to open fire and murder these friendly and law abiding people for no reason other than the color of their skin (did you ever notice that these idiots always pick the best of a people, regardless of color, to murder, rather than going to an area where the people there are likely armed better than he is, and where he will be met with armed opposition?).
However, remember that many of our ancestors also fought in the Revolutionary War of Independence, and they were in favor of the formation of a new country, now known as the United States of America.
Like it or not, the Confederacy has deep roots in Georgia History. However, must we now have an “Apology Street” in every town and community in the south to show the African American men, women and children that we regret that period in our history? Perhaps one day a week all white people should be required to wear “sackcloth and ashes” to show how terrible we feel and how sorry we are for what our distant ancestors did, none of whom we know or have ever met. Of course “transplants” would be exempt. Or perhaps we should add insult to injury by pretending that it never happened in the first place, and discreetly remove all references, including renaming streets and towns that include references to people involved in the War Between the States?
Already, zealots, both white and black, are desecrating memorials to those involved in the Civil War, such as the vandalizing of the Jefferson Davis memorial in Virginia and other acts to show “displeasure.” Of course the largest physical “memorial” to the memory of the “old South” in Georgia that we know of is the carving on Stone Mountain within Stone Mountain Park which is owned by the state of Georgia. We all know that the mountain has carved on one side gigantic images of the Civil War, Confederate President Jefferson Davis, along with Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson, all sitting astride their horses (we remember from our school days history that General Lee’s horse was named, “Traveler,” but we are not acquainted with the names of the mounts of General Jackson or that of President Davis. hummm…). Millions are made each year with the light show that has been designed to show off this memorial to the Confederacy carved on the side of Stone Mountain. However, using the standards that are so popular now, perhaps we need to give serious thought to selling it to private industry, requiring that they dynamite the mountain for its granite, thus indirectly removing the “scar” of the carvings from our history, and perhaps eventually from our memory.
Come to think of it, we have several Civil War memorials in the city of Macon-Bibb, one of which is a large statute of a Confederate soldier right across from the Bibb County Courthouse. I believe that a black civil rights leader in Macon, who is also a former Mayor of the city of Macon, C. Jack Ellis, has already called for it to be taken down and either destroyed or placed in a museum or cemetery(?). Of course the word is that he is a definite candidate for Mayor in the next elections and so I guess he wants the newsprint anyway that he can get it.
The next thing you know they will be going after the venerable movie, “Gone With the Wind,” forgetting that the movie and the book was a love story with the old South and the War Between the States as a backdrop. Oh, yeah, cries for that to happen has already started. For goodness sake, don’t tell them about D. W. Griffith’s epic movie, “Birth of a Nation” or they really will have a heart attack.
However, we feel that the best idea is a return to sanity….
Homer Scarborough,
I imagine Mr. Scarborough deems himself something of a Swift, yet this piece falls way short of satire and languishes in the halls of hyperbole. My only apology is that Mr. S. sees positive change as something he deems frivolous or unwarranted. He does make an excellent point that I had not thought of before…and that is the fact of Stone Mountain. It caused me to realize there’s a relationship between a Memorial and a symbol. While I have no problem with government facilities respectfully retiring the flag which is symbolic in nature, I hadn’t thought of Stone Mountain, which I love, serves the same function as a flag…and I don’t think it does due to its nature as a memorial.
So thank you Mr. S. for bringing to my mind more to think about on this issue. I just wish you were more respectful with your sarcasm in your piece and much more restrained with your hyperbole.