Jackson commissioners’ plaque removal a mistake
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To The Editor:
I appreciate your straightforward and informative coverage of the removal of the plaque over Sylva Sam’s Confederate flag. I am a 21-year resident of Jackson County, and have enjoyed positive relations with fellow citizens here during all those years, no matter what our political views were.
The removal of the plaque is disturbing in two ways, in particular. First, the fact that it was done without public knowledge or invitation to comment is just plain sneaky. It doesn't matter if the rules governing the council allowed it to happen. I bet the commissioners knew there would be disagreement and they were not willing to face members of the county who disagreed with them. This is exactly the kind of behavior that erodes trust and demonstrates that authoritarianism is on the rise, even in our small county. Such a decision to move behind closed doors may have been a slick maneuver within the rules, but it was not fair, or just, or morally commendable. The kind of move a 12-year-old makes when trying to get away with something. Shame on the commissioners who supported this behavior.
Secondly, your article did a great job of reminding us why the plaque had been installed in the first place. A notable number of members of our community, myself among them, do not feel comfortable with some of the things the Confederate flag has come to symbolize. Of course I can understand the desire to honor those who served in the battles of the Civil War, no matter what side they were on. But since we are in this moment “One nation under God,” why should a symbol that shouts of a desire to dismantle the United States and continue slavery have center stage in front of our beautiful courthouse library? After all, have the commissioners or others who support such a display of the Confederate flag actually thought about what our lives might be like if the Confederacy had won?
More than a 150 years have passed since the Civil War. It is time to let that loss go and work together through understanding, compromise and open-hearted forgiveness to continue to build this nation. What the commissioners did was just a “Gotcha” moment that promotes division, partisanship, and let's be honest, a slap in the face to civil rights.
Maybe a solution is to install the plaque right next to that annoying Confederate flag? Perhaps that could stand for our experience of the Civil War, and then our growth beyond it? E Pluribus Unum.
Judy Robinson
Sylva
