In regards to the letter about vehicles flying Confederate flags (“Flag a reminder that racism still with us,” Letters, Herald, Jan. 22) there are many that still do, and we that have do not believe that the Confederacy stood for racial supremacy, but instead those states’ own independence. We understand that some use it as a banner for hatred and ignorance, but to those who have studied the history and know the true causes of the war, it outrages us to have our culture besmirched.
It is a symbol of our heritage. I, being a “flag flyer,” would enjoy sitting and talking with critics over the historical facts of the Civil War, and possible causes of Southern secession. Those include tariffs on southern businesses supporting more than 85 percent of the federal budget, Abraham Lincoln going to war instead of purchasing all slaves and freeing them (which would have cost less than half as much as the Civil War), and of course the fact that should the South have succeeded in becoming an independent nation, the Union would have collapsed financially.
We may also discuss the lack of aid offered by the federal government to freed slaves after the war, The Emancipation Proclamation not applying to states of the Union, Gen. Grant’s refusal to free his own slaves, and of course the racist quotes of President Lincoln. According to our great emancipator, many of our multicultural flag flyers are, “Mixed Breed [expletive]” and of course one can reference Lincoln’s quote, “If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it.”
We of the Rocky Mountain Confederate Conservation deny any that discriminate in any way and have many members of many ethnicities, one of the founders being Hispanic, and we believe all people should be treated equally. Just as I would not deny anyone the right to religion, culture, heritage, or freedom of speech, I will not be denied mine. Contact us at: rockymtnconfederateconservation@yahoo.com.
Rosalee Reed
Rocky Mountain Confederate Conservation
Durango
