This letter is in reply to Sue Neese’s letter of 11 October.
In her letter to the editor she ask Henry Countians, again, to remove the Confederate Memorial (the Sentinel) on Court Square. We should do so because it memorialises and honours the institution of slavery and thus stands as its advocate. This according to her is a cause of distress for some in our county. She declares that she is aware of our history, and that we were on the wrong side of it.
I want to point out that the expression there are two sides to every story exists for a reason. It is the nature of things.
Those that see the history of the Confederacy solely as a struggle to maintain the institution of slavery do not know the whole story. That war was no more solely about the violent overthrow of slavery than the First Persian Gulf War was about freeing Kuwait. History is never simple and always multifaceted.
I have rarely, if ever, met anyone who wanted to take down the Confederate flag or Confederate monuments that could give a basic account of the Confederacy’s side of the story. And I think it a sovereign truth in the realm of human dialogue that those who take a stand against a position, should in fact, know the position they stand against.
Rick Revel is the commander of the local camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, an organisation dedicated to the legacy of the Confederacy. He is also a historian and public speaker of considerable renown. He, or any number of distinguished historians within the SCV would be more than happy to give our side of the story to any group that wants to hear it.
Lastly, Ms Neese ask us to consider the feelings of others. Has she considered the feelings of those Henry Countians that would deeply resent any attempt to take down the Sentinel, and the strife that would ensue? Has she considered the feelings of those who would be deeply embittered were the attempt to succeed? Is she concerned about the division that such a thing would create in our peaceful county?
The Sentinel does not stand to honour the ancient institution of slavery. Its stands for something else that all patriotic Americans can appreciate, especially in the light of the progressive madness of this age. And against this madness, it stands defiantly, as do all true sons of the South, be they black or white.
M.C. Atkins
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Bravo, Mark! It does seem to be a rule of life that those who preach, “Consider the feelings of others,” don’t.
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Well said, Mr. Atkins. Thank you for standing up for the South.
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Every one of those memorials calls on the viewer to recall those who did not return from the war. That makes them a memorial. Unlike the North, the large majority of Southern boys were not buried in known, marked graves. In the western theater, they were mostly left to bleach in the sun. As one fund-raiser said in 1869 or so, their bones were bleaching in the sun from Corinth to Shiloh. These memorials serve a different purpose in the South, than they do in the North.
Tom
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Good thoughts Tom!
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