Letter: Protesters on fruitless mission to create discord

Jerry Smith
Ocala, FL

Dear Historic City News Editor:

It is with great dismay that I am forced to observe this inevitable “march to disown history” and to sully the memories of our ancestors in St Augustine on Saturday evening. It is clearly a misguided (and ultimately fruitless) mission to create discord where none exists.

It seems our country is suffering from mass hysteria. Are we to believe that century-old inanimate objects, like memorials to dead veterans, have been transformed into evil beings that exude a malevolent force?

Quite an accomplishment for pieces of marble, stained glass, and fabric; especially given that these objects have existed peacefully and without much notice for most of the protester’s lifetime. I hope, one day, people realize the absolute folly of the rabble rousing coming from a few political activists and wonder what the hell they were thinking.

I applaud the city manager and commissioners for having a spine, so far, and for resisting this movement. It is a welcome change from much of Florida where a few protesters, not representing the majority, have forced their will on the community; and, in many cases, are no more than paid dissidents from out of town.

When you really examine what is at stake here, it goes far beyond being offended by memorials. “Our Confederate heritage is being banished to a dark little corner of American life labeled slavery and treason,” wrote Dr. Clyde Wilson, a noted historian on the Southern Tradition. “The people who seek to destroy our heritage are not folks we can win over by presenting historical evidence and assuring them we are good, loyal Americans free of hate. They could not care less about truth or heritage. We are not in an argument over the interpretation of the past. Our very identity as Southerners today and tomorrow is at stake.”

As a Southerner, you should believe this; and, you should understand that memorials are not the protester’s end game. Everything we hold dear is under threat. If this enemy, masquerading as politically correct devotees, were to succeed in marginalizing us, and our heritage, it will not stop there. We are fighting a national evil and fighting for our very existence.

Just because the other side claims Southerners represent treason and slavery, as if it were some unassailable truth, doesn’t mean it is so. I can probably find 1,000 people who swear they have seen UFOs. Just because they say it, or even firmly believe it, doesn’t mean we have been visited by extraterrestrials.