One Man’s Reply
 
From: cliftonpalmermclendon@yahoo.com
 
To Elton Richey: Why we should move the Confederate monument and flag 
Shreveport Times
http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20110522/OPINION0106/105220329/Elton-Richey-Why-we-should-move-the-Confederate-monument-and-flag?odyssey=tab%7Cmostpopular%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE
 

"Old Glory— the quintessential symbol of American Freedom"
 
Did Old Glory mean freedom to the thousands of Africans transported into slavery on New England ships flying it?
 
I think not.
 
Did Old Glory mean freedom to the Native Americans who were cheated, dispossessed, and slaughtered under it?
 
I think not.
 
Did Old Glory mean freedom to the Jews who were forcibly removed from the Military District of Tennessee by Ulysses S. Grant under it?
 
I think not.
 
Did Old Glory mean freedom to the Southern civilians — black and white alike — who were raped, robbed, and burned out under it?
 
I think not.
 
Did Old Glory mean freedom to the US citizens of Japanese ancestry who were shoved into concentration camps under it?
 
I think not.
 
Old Glory is the favored flag of the Ku Kluxers. (See http://pointsouth.com/csanet/kkk.htm for pictures.) Did Old Glory mean freedom to their victims?
 
I think not.
 
No Confederate-flagged ship ever made a slaving-run.
 
Neither Native Americans nor Jews were ever mistreated under a Confederate flag’s authority.
 
Confederate military personnel never committed atrocities against noncombatants.
 
No Confederates ever put anyone into a concentration camp based on his ethnicity.
 
Anyone who seeks a symbol of freedom needs not look to Old Glory.
 
**************************************************
 
To A Symbol Of Hate At The House Of Justice 
Wall Street Pit
http://wallstreetpit.com/75991-a-symbol-of-hate-at-the-house-of-justice
 
Anyone who seeks a symbol of hate needs to look no farther than the thirteen-stripe United States flag.
 
Under that flag, many thousands of Africans were transported to slavery in the New World. No Confederate-flagged ship ever made a slaving-run.
 
Under that flag, atrocities were committed against noncombatant civilians during the 1860s — atrocities to rank with those committed by the Germans and Japanese during World War II. No Confederate unit ever committed atrocities against noncombatants.
 
Under that flag, Ulysses S. Grant issued General Order No. 11, expelling all Jews from parts of Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky. The Confederate States of America never practiced anti-Semitism. To the contrary — the Confederate forces included Jewish officers and enlisted men, and from the beginning, the Confederate cabinet included Judah Philip Benjamin, a Jew. (The first Jewish US cabinet member, Oscar Straus, served under Theodore Roosevelt.)
 
Under that flag, the military services were segregated until after World War II. Confederate military units saw many different ethnicities – including thousands of blacks – serving cheek-by-jowl and receiving the same pay and allowances.
 
Under that flag, Native Americans/Indians were cheated, forcibly removed from their ancestral lands, and massacred wholesale. Native Americans/Indians received no such treatment at Confederate hands. To the contrary — Native Americans/Indians played a vital role in the Confederate Army. General Stand Watie, a Cherokee, was the last Confederate general to sign a cease-fire with the US Army.
 
Under that flag, American citizens in the 1940s were forcibly removed from their homes and herded into concentration camps solely because their ancestors had been born in Japan. The Confederate States of America never put anyone into a concentration camp based on his parents’ ethnicity.
 
That flag is the favored flag of the Ku Kluxers. See http://pointsouth.com/csanet/kkk.htm for pictures.
 
So – if you seek a symbol of hate, go for Old Glory.
 
Clifton Palmer McLendon
Upshur County, Texas