Jul 11, 2015 2 min read

Soon after the murder of nine innocent black parishioners at their church in Charleston, S.C. and arrest of the young man who killed them, the media took the opportunity to once again call for the removal of the Confederate battle flag wherever it was displayed.

There was immediate and uniform agreement from politicians, businesses and organizations that it was time for the flag to be removed. Although I’m not surprised, I was disappointed not one prominent voice rose in defense of the flag and what it represents to millions of Southerners who are equally proud of their heritage as any Yankee is of his.

The Confederate flag should have been lowered to half-mast for a period of mourning, a fitting recognition that Southern pride has also been removed.

The ignorant and hate-filled will call the Confederate flag a “racist symbol,” but it was much more to many more – it was a symbol of states’ rights and political liberty, even if limited.

For those pleased the Confederate flag will no longer be flown, take a moment and think of the more than 300,000 Confederate soldiers who died fighting the Union Army. Very few, if any, even owned slaves or benefited from the practice. They had no reason to leave their families and give their lives for slave owners. So why did they? Those 300,000 Southerners who gave their lives loved their states first, and felt the federal intrusion was no different than the threat from Britain, which our founders fought. This is why they fought against the North. The knew why our nation was created – individual liberty and independent governance.

The removal of the Confederate flag is yet another effort to destroy any trace of anything of value the intolerant refuse to accept. As Southern states are quick to remove this symbol of regional pride, they have removed so much more.

Gerald Fontana

Waynesburg