Neil Stahl: Symbols of hate

Regarding the July 8 Point of View “Suppressing our Southern symbols is a slippery slope”: J. Daniel Bolick wrote to support keeping the battle flag, but his excuses don’t hold water. He talked of the extensive activities of Sons of Confederate Veterans but didn’t explain why these people aren’t actively honoring all their soldier ancestors.

Why is this war so special? For too many it’s because it was fought to be able to enslave people, and it was lost. He acknowledged the battle flag has been abused but points out Old Glory has been also.

Of course it has, but it also represents many great achievements. The battle flag represents only a short, ugly period when traitors fought America.

He claimed a special license plate doesn’t imply state endorsement, but in fact the legislature issued an anti-abortion plate and refused to issue a freedom-of-choice plate. That smells of endorsement.

We must make it clear Confederate symbols don’t represent our governments because people like Dylann Roof think they do. They think lots of people want a race war, and why wouldn’t they when they see all those symbols of one displayed by their governments? And there are many more people like Roof.

This story was originally published July 11, 2015 at 2:00 PM with the headline "Neil Stahl: Symbols of hate."