Page 5 - Florida Sentinel 8-22-17

Editorials/Columns
FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN
(USPS 202-140)
2207 21st Avenue, Tampa Florida 33605 • (813) 248-1921 Published Every Tuesday and Friday By
FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHING Co., Member of National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA)
S. KAY ANDREWS, PUBLISHER
C. BLYTHE ANDREWS III, PRESIDENT/CONTROLLER ALLISON WELLS-CLEBERT, CFO
GWEN HAYES, EDITOR
IRIS HOLTON, CITY EDITOR
BETTY DAWKINS, ADVERTISING DIRECTOR HAROLD ADAMS, CIRCULATION MANAGER TOYNETTA COBB, PRODUCTION MANAGER LAVORA EDWARDS, CLASSIFIED MANAGER
Subscriptions-$44.00-6 Months Both Editions: $87.00-Per Year Both Editions.
Opinions expressed on editorial pages of this newspaper by Columnists or Guest Writers, do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance of The Florida Sentinel Bulletin or the Publisher.
A Criminal Heritage
or years now, the issue of confederate monu- ments and their place in
the public domain has been a hot button issue. Recently the debate over the cultural significance of the statues and flags has intensified since white supremacists groups, like the Ku Klux Klan and Neo-Nazis, have used the threat of their removal as a focal point for their rallies.
The thing that continues to confuse me, though, when I hear individuals insist that taking down the structures is an affront to American his- tory is how a person, who claims to be a "proud Ameri- can," can take such a posi- tion? After all, the generals and soldiers represented by these sculptures weren't fighting to make this country better, in actuality, their goal was to bring the nation to its knees.
The fact of the matter, that confederate sympathizers like to ignore, is that if south- ern Civil War icons like Gen- eral Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis or Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson (not to be confused with Presi- dent Andrew “Stonewall” Jackson) at- tempted the same insurrec- tion today, they would all be serving time underground
inside of the Federal ADX prison facility in Florence, Colorado after being con- victed of treason. Their cells adjacent to other infamous traitors and domestic terror- ists such as disgraced former F.B.I. Agent Robert Hanssen, the “Un- abomber,” Theodore Kaczynski and the surviv- ing Oklahoma City bomber Terry Nichols.
Some may believe it's a stretch to compare so-called war "heroes" with these no- torious criminals but, when you think about it, is there really that much difference in their actions? They all had an axe to grind with the fed- eral government. Lee, Davis and Jackson simply had the advantage of having an army to go along with their rebellion.
If being a dead anarchist is the only qualification needed to become recog- nized as a deified part of southern heritage, then you have to wonder when Timo- thy McVeigh (the other Oklahoma City bomber who was executed through lethal injection) is going to get his visage added to pantheons like the one in Stone Moun- tain, Georgia? I mean, wouldn't he be considered the ultimate rebel soldier?
Of course, this isn't to say
that men like General Lee should be erased from his- tory. There are places (any Donald Trump property comes to mind) to recognize the role he played in this country's development. They just shouldn't include public squares where the descen- dants of those who he fought to keep in bondage would be forced to face the image of their ancestor's oppressor on a daily basis.
Going forward it may be wise for society as a whole to refrain from immortalizing individuals with buildings and statues simply because we respect their political, so- cial or military accomplish- ments. I say this because, as deeply flawed creatures, there will always be chinks in a person's character that some will view as too promi- nent to warrant paying hom- age. Making the constant erecting and demolishing of concrete effigies, and build- ing name changes, a never ending process that we could all do without.
Reality On Ice is © by the Florida Sentinel Bul- letin Publishing Com- pany. You can write to Mr. Barr at: Clarence Barr 43110-018, Oak- daleF.C.I.,P.O.BOX 5000, Oakdale, LA 71463.
POSTMASTER: Send Address Change To: Florida Sentinel Bulletin,
P.O. Box 3363 Tampa, FL 33601 Periodical Postage Paid At Tampa, FL
C. Blythe Andrews 1901-1977 (1945)
C. Blythe Andrews, Jr. 1930-2010 (1977)
Two Slaps In The Face
hree cheers for the Tampa Chamber of Com-
merce, The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, The Tampa Bay Lightning, The Tampa Bay Rays and other cor- porate donors and individuals who just recently raised the funds needed to move the Confederate statue from the downtown Tampa Courthouse lawn.
This last minute “Hail Mary” miracle came hours after the same Hillsborough County Commission not only voted to keep the Confederate statue on the Courthouse lawn if $140,000 wasn’t raised in 30 days, but balked at the idea of anyone even daring to think about moving the Confederate monument any- where outside the County limits.
Then, later that day a so-called Confederate advo- cate was appointed to the County’s Diversity Advi- sory Committee. Taking a twist from Trump himself, “When will it end?” Worse still, as a tourist destina- tion, conference site and potential host to the 2020 Super Bowl, the commission was obviously willing to risk boycotts and protests of these events instead of doing what many would consider the right thing.
For many Americans, Confederate symbols rep- resent a constant reminder of a nation torn in half . . . by accusations of treasons, issues of slavery, rape, murder, lynching, Constitutional disenfranchise- ment, and Jim Crow segregation.
Claiming that “Confederate symbols represent their culture” was proven to be a lie by an under- cover FBI agent who infiltrated hate groups and stated the word “culture” was a dog-whistle for “white European culture.”
Moreover, as we have stated previously, though they were pardoned by President Abraham Lincoln, Confederate soldiers fought on a different side than did their Union counterparts thereby making them Confederate veterans, not United States veterans.
But the Civil War is over and there will never be another American slave.
So, be sure when it’s election time, you remember how certain commissioners voted on August 16, 2017.
TUESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2017 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 5
F
T