I’ve not said a lot about the flag controversery of the past week. So let’s recap what has started all this mess. From the OA News a week ago.
“Mary Norman was shocked Thursday afternoon when Auburn Councilman Arthur L. Dowdell pulled up a Confederate flag placed on her great-grandfather’s grave and snapped it in half, she said. Dowdell, who denies snapping the flag, said Thursday he was picking up his daughter from Auburn Junior High School near the cemetery when several people told him they “had a problem” with the flags. He drove to the cemetery and started pulling up flags, he said. “It’s offensive to me,” he said. “To me, it represents the Ku Klux Klan and racism.” The United Daughters of the Confederacy placed the flags earlier this week, as they have done for 50 years, in preparation for a celebration Sunday of Confederate Memorial Day, Norman said. (Source OA News)
Of course, this reminded me of the article I wrote in the OA News a few months ago. Apparently Mr. Dowdell should have read it, or maybe he can now. I’ve republished it here.
I know that when I supported the establishment of the third Historic District in Opelika, I did find that not everyone agreed with my position. Now I find myself on the Opelika Historic Commission, which has its fans and foes. When you discuss history, whether is the preservation of an old house that some may think would be better gone, or parts of our past that you feel the same about, then you’ll draw some additional attention. Recently, Frank White, the Executive Director of the Alabama Historic Commission spoke to members of the Opelika Historic Preservation Society open meeting. After the meeting I had some additional thoughts.
I got the impression that while Alabama is rich is history, that history that doesn’t always please the entire population. One group supports the history of the Civil Rights movement and another, the history of the Civil War. Add to that, the past month celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the swearing in of President Barack Obama, the anniversary of events in Selma and Black History Month. That’s a lot of history and a lot of emotion on both sides of the discussion. Probably for someone reading this, you have your favorites from this list and your least favorite. And I’m okay with that.
As the Azalea Trail Maids passed the reviewing stand during inauguration day activities, the Obama family waved and smiled, while Alabama’s NAACP President Edward Vaughn, had complained earlier that the costumes worn by the girls reminded him of the days of “Gone with the Wind” and slavery. He later apologized for the comments. On the other side of the coin, I suspect there are some confederate historians, that find the historic events of Selma and the Edmund Pettus Bridge offensive or at the least, events not on their historic calendar. And while the birthday of General Robert E Lee was celebrated on the King Observance Day, remember that Lee said this after the war, “I am rejoiced that Slavery is abolished. I believe it will be greatly for the interest of the South”. Maybe we can just use one of the words common to both groups and just try and be “Civil”.
So, where am I going with this? I think we should honor all history. Remember all of it, whether it was painful or not for your particular group. There are many lessons in those hard fought years. Life is pretty complicated, and we should learn to live in a group that doesn’t have to be Red or Blue or Black or White. Or is it Red & White and Black & Blue.
In past weekends, I found myself glued to the History Channel and series on the war in the Pacific. You could get emotional watching the events as they unfolded. Many died on both sides. But when it is all said and done, I’ll still go to my neighbor of Japanese descent Hiro Fukai’s house, cook some chili and watch TV on Wednesday Nights. We can just all get along! (Orginally published in the OA News , Tuesday, February 4th, 2009)
From the Archives — originally published on the Opelika Daily News on April 29, 2009. View the original page.
