Wednesday, January 22, 2003

Nick Ryder of Griffin makes excellent points in his recent letter pleading with those of us that support changing the Georgia flag back to its 1956 design to give up our quest. The most important point being his frustration with patriotic Southerners that sat by in years past and allowed the Confederate flag to be used as a tool of intimidation. I share that frustration as well.

However, his points really argue for my point of view. It is exactly because of the misuse of the flag that we should fight even harder to return it to a place of honor. Mr. Ryder, like so many other good-hearted folks, thinks that by giving up here on this argument, we will somehow bring everyone together (that never happens in groups of more than one) and peace and harmony will reign.

Sadly, that won't happen, and even worse, the enemies of the flag (and they are usually the enemies of everything America has traditionally stood for) will not stop with our state flag. They will continue to attempt to eradicate all politically incorrect historic symbols from public view.

If you don't believe it, then I would refer you to recent school name changes in New Orleans: No more George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, or James Madison. In Texas, no more William B. Travis (commander of the Alamo), and in DeKalb County, Ga., no more Clarkston Elementary since the founder of that city is rumored to have been an antebellum slaveholder.

[Ryder] also makes an eloquent argument about the true meaning of the flag: That it is a symbol of battlefield bravery and sacrifice. Again, I agree with him, but again, this point enforces my belief that the Confederate flag is the symbol that most deserves incorporation in our state flag. What other time period or event in the history of our state can even remotely compare with the horrors of the War Between the States, and its effect on our state? Obviously, nothing else can.

Some critics of the flag say that the Confederate flag doesn't represent all Georgians. My response to that is to ask how the Stars and Stripes is any different? It is not. Both were symbols that were born in different times that we have to look at for what they were. They were steps along the way to the freedoms we all enjoy today.

The last time I checked, I didn't see much diversity in the makeup of the founding fathers of our country, but look what they gave us. The same can be said for the founding fathers of the Confederacy. They fought against centralized government, political despotism, and for the constitutional principles that their ancestors fought for 1776. Some of their specific issues may be offensive to us as modern Americans, but their principles were timeless.

Some media outlets are predicting dire consequences if the flag is changed back to the 1956 design. Consequences like what happened with our economy from 1956-2001 while the Confederate flag dominated the state banner? We should be so fortunate. In fact, why aren't these same folks blaming the Barnes flag for our current problems?

Because they know, like all of us with a bit of common sense, that the flag has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with our economy. The economic threat is obviously a scare tactic. These same critics said that Mississippi would bring on economic disaster if the citizens there voted to retain their Confederate dominated symbol, but what happened? They got a new Nissan plant that will bring with it several thousand jobs.

Fellow citizens, what part of our common heritage as Americans are we willing to give up when the next "offended" group, or individual comes along?

Scott K. Gilbert

Commander, Gen. Lafayette McLaws Camp #79

Sons of Confederate Veterans

Fayetteville