This is Viewpoints for Monday, September 4, 2017

Erasing history

Regarding the sweep around the country to eradicate statues, I would like to add my opinion. I totally understand the black community’s opinion that these are a paen to a horrific past. There may be nothing more despicable than making someone a slave, taking away their human rights and ripping them from their homeland and loved ones. Instead of removing the statues, I suggest a detailed plaque that explains who they are, what they did and how it is now perceived in our national conscience. You can’t erase history. You can certainly learn from it. For those who think not, please read or re-read a book from high school by George Orwell called “1984.” Significantly, it was published in 1949.

‘Nationalist’

Thanks goodness for Bob Hubbard’s letter on the meaning of “Nationalist.” For lo these many years, I have been laboring under the impression that the Merriam-Webster and Oxford dictionaries might supply something approaching the correct definition of certain words.

‘Nationalist’ as described in Merriam Webster: “a member of a political party or group advocating national independence or strong national government.” A quick visit to the MW thesaurus gives us: chauvinist, chauvinistic, jingoist, jingoistic, nationalistic, super patriotic and anti-foreign, anti-immigrant, nativist, nativistic, xenophobic.

Oxford: “A person with strong patriotic feelings especially one who believes in the superiority of their country over others. Synonyms cited are: Authoritarian, autocrat, Nazi, extreme right-winger, far right-winger, rightist, blackshirt, militarist.”

Now, Bob, I appreciate the lesson your letter promotes, but I see words and actions from actors that identify themselves as “Nationalists” that are more accurately described by many the terms listed above.

As in the many, many letters to the Viewpoints section of The Telegraph that seek to explain, define or redefine the word “Christian,” trying to do so simply invites more division as each successive writer attempts to put his or her personal stamp on why they are “true Christians” and, more importantly, why the preceding writer can’t possibly be a “true Christians.”

All well and good, unless of course, we reach Bob’s “tipping point” and the implied hell that will follow if we “…awaken the people that built this country- nationalists.”

I would submit that some of the folks who identify as “Nationalist” are awake and the “hell” they brought has surely enveloped the friends and families of Heather Heyer, Burke Bates and Jay Cullen.

Racism, statues

First, I am a veteran who served “our country for 25 years in the Air Force. Growing up in the 1970s, racism was alive and unfortunately still is. I was friends with everyone, having been raised as a military brat, I had friends of all ethnic backgrounds. I have raised my children to be color neutral and they have friends, lifelong friends, of many different backgrounds.

Now the issue of historical statues. Someone once said and I don’t know the correct quote “If we don’t remember our history we may be doomed to repeat it.” I am not saying slavery and the Civil War, would ever come back. I don’t believe anyone would stand for that. But the people who are out there stirring the pot of hatred are those who are, in my opinion, ignorant bullies who don’t bear a minute of mine or anyone else’s time.

It is 2017 not 1866 and many may not know immediately after the Civil War Robert E. Lee was asked if a statue of him could be erected. He declined and stated that the country needed to heal. It was not the time to put up images reflecting on the war.

A pledge

I see in the news of late a lot of politicians and others want the Confederate statues removed. In my opinion this will be OK if we don’t stop there. We must remove any statue, street sign, park, or any other thing that could be offensive to anyone. This means not only remove the Confederate statues but also Cotton Street must be renamed along with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Jeff Davis Street and Washington Avenue, just to name a few.

But as I said, we must not stop there. We must ban the Confederate flag from being flown along with the American Flag and any other flag that any single person finds offensive. We must rename all of our parks and sports fields with some name that no one can, in any way, feel offended by. This must take place not only here in Middle Georgia but across the entire nation.

I think by now you can see just how totally stupid this would be. But there are those among us who feel they must have their way. As I told some of my students some years back in the Air Force who, when seeing a U.S. flag being burned wanted to go an stop the protest. I told them if they truly did that they should resign their commission in the military because they had taken a pledge to defend these people and their right to do just that.

Military culture

The military culture is vastly different than any other in America’s society. A person joining the military trades their constitutional rights, subordinated to the “Uniform Code of Military Justice.” Unlike their civilian counterparts, you can’t quit at will or give your boss the finger as you exit the workplace without dire consequences. In view of the vast restriction on rights afforded military personnel, someone has to speak up on their behalf whenever their social or moral welfare is impacted. President Trump’s recent declaration against transgender serving in the military was the right thing to do.

It is a privilege to serve in our military and certainly not a right. The time has come for this country to recognize potential problems and unintended consequences related to transgender and other non-heterosexuals folks living in this country and specifically serving in the military. An appropriate remedy to ensure equal treatment regarding the military would be to create another gender class, with separate restrooms and other gender-based facilities.

So, if any of you folks wish to protest Trump’s decision, start by demanding the creation of a separate gender class similar to male and female and let transgender and other members of the LGBTQ community serve openly. I don’t think military folks would have a problem with that — at least I wouldn’t. Until that happens, I stand in opposition to any action that violates the presumptive rights of our military members.

This story was originally published September 3, 2017 at 9:00 PM with the headline "This is Viewpoints for Monday, September 4, 2017."