Subject: my letter to the school
To Whom It May Concern:
Why is it so wrong for us to be proud that we were born in the South? Is our southern heritage that embarrassing? And whatever happened to "Freedom of Expression-speech and press" or even the "Freedom of Belief?" Are you really willing to change a part of history by not allowing the Confederate symbols to be recognized in our school district to please a few ignorant people who obviously don’t know Georgia’s background?
Now, as a student here at Rockdale County High School, I have learned that the South fought the Civil War for independence and independence alone. However, as I was doing some reading and research, I have also learned that the meaning of Civil War is a war between opposing groups of citizens of the same country, and I do believe the Confederate States of America were a sovereign nation, a completely separate country from the United States.
Did you know that over 180 thousand African Americans assisted in the Confederate Army and with pride (that’s over half the army)? Well, they did, and to this day it is astonishing to me and as well as many others, that there is still a few people who choose, willingly, not to understand that people of both African American and White races fought for the South.
When I was in the eighth grade, my Social Studies class watched a video over the Civil War, and do you know what watching that video helped me to understand? Lets just say, I now understand that slavery had very little to NOTHING to do with the Civil War; that the African American soldiers ate with the White soldiers; they also slept beside them; fought side-by-side with one another, putting theirs lives in each others hands; depending on one another, and they even died beside each other. Dying with pride; dying for what they believed in, and I believe that taking the Confederate symbols away from us is not only hurting us, but it’s killing those who survived and lived the Civil War because the thing that matters to them the most is the thing that they held in their hands while marching towards the battlefield, the Confederate Flag!
"If everybody in this country wanted some symbol or item removed or destroyed because it offended them, then we would soon become a communists country with no freedoms at all. The US Constitution protects our rights as citizens of this country to believe in what we want, what we want to say, and how we express ourselves. We cannot change history or hide from it. And we can’t make up a different history to suit others," quoted by Rebekah Rogers.
Taking away these right is taking away our First Amendment rights, which states as follows: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
There was a reason why the Confederate Flag was still standing, and that reason had nothing to do with racism; it was simply there to honor those fought and died for our independence. Those who had families and friends and still went to war; those who deserve to be honored.
In my opinion, if I were to go back in time and tell them, those who were going to war, the situation that we’re going through as we speak, they would probably have second thoughts on whether or not they should fight for OUR independence. Do you or do you not agree?
We are all Southerners, African American and White. All I’m asking is that you stop using the Confederate symbol as a symbol of hate because it is everything but that!!
You see, you can’t change history and you definitely can’t take what we know away from us; and what I know is that I’m making the right decision by taking what I believe in to a higher prospective in my life; lets just hope you’ll make the right decision as well!
And you can start by taking everything that I have sent to you into consideration, and do what you can, and if what you do is not enough, then I’ll take my goal and my petition to the Board of Education and go from there!
After reading this, please, don’t just nod your head and move on to the next thing; think about it first, PLEASE!
Thank You so much for your time,
Destiny Sasser
