On Southern voices
I am a son of the South and of Arkansas. My ancestors were mainly English and Scots-Irish, with some American Indian and French admixture. Most of them came through Virginia and Tennessee on the way here, some before Arkansas became its own territory. I write songs full of images from my growing up on a lowland farm and from living now in the Ozarks.
"Southern heritage" is a term that resonates with me.
Right now, I'm thinking about recent calls to remove emblems of the Confederacy from public display. Let's be clear, secession came about over the issue of slavery. Were Northern economic interests complicit in trafficking the fruits of slavery? Did they often exploit the South? Yes, and yes. But read the declarations of seceding states and it is clear that they mostly left the Union so they could keep slaves.
The best impulses of our Southern heritage compel us now to search our hearts. Our politicians will do what the majority of us want or they won't be re-elected. What, then, do present-day Southerners want?
We love an independent spirit and hot buttered cornbread, but many of us are deeply wounded by the sight of Confederate battle flags. Those are all values shaped by centuries of experience. When we choose our public symbols we should remember that.
As Southerners, we sometimes speak in different voices. On these issues, I hope we will finally speak with one voice in an accent that sounds like genuine Southern grace and good will.
CHARLEY SANDAGE
Mountain View
But it'll be wonderful
Good heavens! The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette taking its golden boy Asa Hutchinson to task? Surely the editorial writers do not realize the benefits of the governor's unilateral actions. First, as only three states will be using the new test, Arkansas' academic rating will jump from 49th (next to last) to third (last). Second, ancillary benefit will accrue to Mississippi, which will move from 50th (last) to 47th (tied with Arkansas for last).
Perhaps this is only the beginning. If the Republican majority in the Legislature, with the guidance of its governor, were to produce its own test exclusively for Arkansas, we could be No. 1 (and last).
Please do not ask me to help because I really do not understand the new math, much less the new, new math in which the first shall be last. But there is something like that in the Bible.
ROBERT LEWIS
Fayetteville
Thanks for support
As the father of PV2 William Andrew Long, who was killed at the Little Rock Recruiting Center on June 1, 2009, I want to thank the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette editorial writers for the support we have received in highlighting the awarding of the Purple Heart to my son and Quinton Ezeagwula.
You don't know how grateful my family is that you took a public stand in support of identifying the attack as terrorism, and that the victims deserved this recognition when their own government would not. Thank you very much.
You will be in my thoughts at 10 a.m. today, when the medals are presented in the state Capitol Rotunda to William A. Long posthumously, and to Quinton Ezeagwula.
DARIS W. LONG
Conway
Amnesia for history
Historical amnesia appears to be a common condition of people everywhere. it could be the result of a willful attempt to distort the truth or perhaps an unconscious attempt to create a counterfactual reality in an effort to find meaning in a very unstable world.
The Confederate flag controversy is perhaps the result of both.
Driving near Batesville recently, I noticed an ironic expression of this amnesia in the number of Confederate flags that were prominently displayed on the homes of the "rural poor." The irony is the seldom-acknowledged fact that the small farmers of the Arkansas hills--the ancestors of these present-day rebels-- largely supported the Union in the Civil War; they were opposed to slavery and detested the rich oligarchs of the planter class.
Among the Confederate states, Arkansas is second only to Tennessee in the number of Union soldiers--both black and white--who fought and died to end slavery. There are currently hundreds of monuments to commemorate the Confederate dead, but I could find only two obscure markers for the Arkansans who fought to end the slaveocracy that oppressed both blacks and whites.
Perhaps the current controversy will help us to recover our historical memory and heal these very deep wounds.
SCOTT D. McGEHEE
Little Rock
Emblem of the South
I am the Confederate Battle Flag. I have flown proudly over the states of South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas.
I am the symbol of the Confederacy of the Old South. I have charged through the battles of the Civil War ... Antietam, Bull Run, Gettysburg, Murfreesboro, Shiloh, Vicksburg ... and a hundred other bloody battles.
I represent the grit, tenacity and courage of those brave men who fought, died and were wounded for the Confederacy.
I rode proudly through the barrage of bullets and cannon fire--survived the smoke, carnage and death of over 258,000 brave troops proclaiming courage and honor.
I have bravely stood sentinel over capitols and libraries, battlefields and war museums, and over the sacred graves of the fallen Southern brave.
I am the emblem of the Old South--now gone with the wind.
TOM KNIGHT
Little Rock
Editorial on 07/01/2015