WEBMASTER NOTE: This is an excellent letter supporting our heritage. It was
written in support of Cherokee High
School Dixie
Outfitter apparel. Cherokee County
Georgia Atlanta
I would first like to commend the Cherokee High
School students, protesting the ban on wearing Dixie Outfitters apparel, for
their peaceful approach in demonstrating their feelings over the ban.
I recognize that high school is not the "real world". In fact, I would venture to say that today¹s high school is even further removed from the "real world" than mine was some 20 years ago. However, we are, as parents, educators, and a community, supposedly preparing our young people to take their rightful place as productive citizens in the "real world". Therefore, I would address my comments to those parents/students who found it necessary to complain about the Dixie Outfitters clothing and to those who addressed these complaints with such a swift and sweeping ban.
Tolerance is a two-way street. There can be no tolerance if one group is
allowed to trample upon the rights/freedoms of another, even if the actions of
one group are found to be offensive by another. In the "real world",
there are offensive behaviors observed everyday. Yet, as adults, we move on,
get over it.
I, too find certain things offensive like the window decals depicting the
little boy peeing on whatever the vehicle¹s owner dislikes, blaring rap music
or lewd lyrics issuing forth from car stereos, clothing with degrading or crude
slogans that some choose to wear. Yet, I do not find some entity in charge of
such matters to complain and request that bans be implemented or that laws be
passed. Of course not, because I live in the "real world" where
people express themselves in different ways. It may not be something with which
I agree. It may not be something I can believe, but it is this individual’s
right to express himself/herself. Yes, if I were to list everything I am
offended by, even mildly, I could probably fill a page. However, life is too
short, too precious to spend my time in such a manner.
The fact that a small group of individuals can infringe upon the rights
of others offends my sensibilities as an American and most particularly as a
native Southerner. As a Southern American, I cannot change what has come to
pass. I cannot erase more than 200 years of slavery. I cannot remove the stain
of racial hatred spilled upon the Confederate battle flag by those who would do
others harm, not only because of race, but religion, ethnicity, and class. I
can only live my life, respecting others as I would expect to be respected.
When Southerners wave the Confederate flag or demonstrate their pride in
their heritage, they are told, "The Civil War ended in 1865, get over
it." However, the suffering of the Civil War did not end for the South in
1865. This region of the country has only recently begun to fully recover from
the long lasting effects of the war and the terrible Reconstruction period that
followed. The majority of those who served, wearing butternut, gray, or
homespun did not own slaves. Many at war¹s end, returned to find their farms decimated,
their families scattered to the winds, and, in some cases, insurmountable
debts. Others did not return and to this day, their descendants wonder what
happened to them and where they might be buried. These men (and women) grit
their teeth and waded into their problems, working hard to make something come
from nothing. They sought no help, but rather went quietly about the business
of rebuilding their lives. It is their bravery, not only on the battlefields,
but in the cornfields, tobacco fields, and cotton fields that the Southern
American celebrates when he/she, in Southern pride, raises the Confederate
battle flag in the air or wears it proudly displayed upon their clothing. And,
it is right to do so because by the sweat of their brow, the new South was
born.
When black Americans speak of the degradation their people suffered under
slavery and how it has impacted their own lives, we, as a nation, are supposed
to give credence to it, reverence it. Yes, slavery was a great and terrible
thing. However, no nation on this earth has been without a period of slavery. Just
as the returning Confederate soldiers fell victim to Reconstruction, former
slaves fell victim to the abrupt end of slavery. However, today’s American
black cannot blame slavery for their plight any more than Irish-Americans,
Polish-Americans, or Japanese-Americans can blame their current situation on
government policies of the past.
I would point the attention of all Americans, particularly those whose
beliefs in political correctness is so strong that it impairs their common
sense, to look at the Indian reservations out West. Established in the mid-1800s,
these institutions house individuals whose ancestors were here for thousands of
years prior to the white man. These proud people now exist at the mercy of a
federal government that has no idea as to what should be done with them. Many
of us do not wish to think of the degradation of these people for to do so
would require us, in moral outrage, to cry out against this treatment. Instead,
those who believe so strongly in political correctness will choose to ensure
that black Americans are not offended by a symbol of history.
Am I the only individual who feels there¹s a double standard in place
here? My advice to these black Americans who are so sensitive? Slavery ended
with the passage of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution in 1865, get over
it!
Sheila R. Simpson