January 24th, 1999:
"Variety is
the spice of life, but without education there can be no variety..."
In the local newspaper today, I read the latest in the
ongoing saga of the Sons of Confederate veterans vs. the NAACP over the impending vote in
the Virginia General Assembly regarding a special license plate for SCV members.
Initially, I thought it was funny, until I got into another article titled: "MARYLAND
RECALLS LICENSE PLATE BEARING CONFEDERATE BATTLE FLAG".
Now, my opinion on this can be construed as a little biased
because I am petitioning for membership into the Sons of the Confederate Veterans
organization, but the way the issue blew up in the media is outrageous. There should be no
issue to this at all.
As I stated in my "Civil War" interest page, anyone who
has taken the time to actually study the Civil War in some detail will discover that the
war was not initially started over slavery. As a matter of fact, roots of the war can be
traced back to Thomas Jefferson's presidency. And, as most anyone will recall,
Thomas Jefferson was a anti-slavery supporter. This issue, as with all issues regarding
the Confederacy, has been twisted by several factors, including the insulting use of the
Confederate Battle Flag in white supremist organizations and the liberal press who like to
play on the "common knowledge" of the Civil War. Because a large number of
people don't care about history, most people will always equate the Civil War to
oppression, and as long as that mentality is around, the press will play off of it. And,
for those of us who do study, and who do take pride in our heritage, we seem to be forever
condemned to being called racist and oppressing.
But, folks, lets face it: The NAACP is the one being
"oppressing". I, for one, would love to see a license plate about the
Civil Rights Movement be released, and I would not be against it. Nor would I be against a
plate commemorating any other occasion in African American history. So why should we pay
for the uneducated opinion of a person, or for that matter, a group of persons? To quote
my bumpersticker: it's about "heritage, not hate". We should have the right to
express our heritage without fear of persecution, and that is one thing that makes this
country so great. I just hope we all haven't forgotten that right, else our great nation
will surely fall.
---Warnie L. Pritchett, II