What happened in Charlottesville, VA this weekend was
heartbreaking. My prayers go out to the family and friends of the victims of
this madman's act of violence.
Why was there a rally this weekend? In this country we have been
witnessing the removal of our history in the way of statues of Confederate
soldiers, heroes in their time, being removed from cities around the country.
It's as if they are trying to take an eraser and remove American History as it
actually happened. As if by removing these statues we can remove the blemish of
ignorance of the time. Ignorance being slavery and all the suffering of those
held as slaves in this country. No normal person in today's society believes
people should held as slaves but yet it is harped on by many activist as if it
is still going on in today's society. Instead of encouraging people they
continually bring up the mistakes of the past and live with hatred in their
hearts as they fight to instill it in others.
Let's take a look at why these men fought in the civil war. What caused
this war to begin with? We all know slavery was a big issue but there was also states’
rights on the table, the power of the federal government over the states, the
"South's way of life", etc. So although slavery is what is usually
cited as the cause of the civil war there were other factors at work, such as,
political and cultural differences between the North and South. Let’s take a
look at them.
Many northern states had moved away from
farming and went into industry which meant a lot of people in the north worked
and lived in large cities like New York and Philadelphia. In the south they
were still maintaining a large farming economy. Unfortunately this economy was
based on slave labor. Since the way of the north had changed from farming to
industry there was no need for slavery because the citizens did the jobs in the
factories and wherever else they were available but in the south they still
relied heavily on slaves.
States’ Rights were another issue of the Civil
War. It didn’t just pop up after the war began but was there since the writing
of the Constitution. There had been arguments back then about how much power
states should have versus how much power the federal government should have. In
the South they believed the federal government was taking away their rights and
powers adding fuel to the fire that was brewing.
As the country began to grow and move westward
each new state added to the county shifted the power between the North and South.
It got to where the south feared they would lose so much power to the north
they would lose all their rights.
Although the south believed in slavery there
were many people in the north who believed it to be wrong and evil. These
people were called abolitionists and they wanted slavery to be made illegal
throughout the United States. This scared the South for they feared their way
of life would come to an end.
In 1854 the first fight over slavery issues
took place in Kansas when the government passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act which
allowed the residents of Kansas to vote on whether or not they would want to be
a slave state or a free state. Of course people from both sides of the fence
flooded the region trying to sway people to their way of thinking. It wasn’t a
fight quickly won for it took years for Kansas to reach a decision and during
that time several people lost their lives in small skirmishes but eventually
Kansas did enter the Union as a free state in 1861.
It was when President Lincoln was elected that
many of the southern states decided they could no longer be a part of the
Union. It was time to separate their ways. They believed they had a right to
leave so starting with South Carolina, eleven other states followed their lead
to leave the United States and form a new country called the Confederate States
of America. This was the country the Confederate soldiers honored in those
statues being removed, believed in and fought for. President Lincoln said they
did not have the right to leave the United States and sent troops in to stop
them, thus beginning the Civil War.
Back to present day. Although there are people
fighting for the right for these statues to remain on display it does not mean
they believe in white supremacy. It does mean they believe in the history of
this great nation right or wrong. We made mistakes along the way and one of the
big mistakes made was slavery. We fought to free slaves and keep this nation
together. The men who fought for the South during this time believed in what
they were fighting for. They believed they had a right to a certain way of life
and they feared the federal government would gain too much control over the
people. They wanted a government for the people like we all did, but they saw
it differently because one side had a different way of life then that other
side.
To remove these statues does not remove the
mistakes we made in history. It does not rewrite our history or erase the names
of those who fought in these battles and those battles that were won. We lost
many good men in these battles both North and South and in the North there were
many free black men who signed up to fight for the Union, for their freedom.
They were fighting as much for themselves as for their brothers and sisters in
the South so one day we could live in a peaceful environment as one race, the
human race. No need to see color or to fight for the right to speak our minds
because all men are created equal.
Just a few short years ago during the Obama
administration a group formed known as Black Lives Matter. Where was the
outrage from America as this group protested, burned down towns, injured
people, destroyed businesses, and fought for the thugs who were destroying
their cities? Where was the DOJ and Obama on these issues? They were condemning
the police for doing their jobs and inviting BLM to the White House and no one
on the Democratic side had anything to say against it.
Now we have what should have been a peaceful
rally interrupted on both sides of the fence by white supremacist and BLM and
Anti-fa, who go at it as the ignorant people they are and unfortunately killed
and injured innocent people. Enter President Trump who speaks out against the
hate in this country that has been building, as he said, for years. Long before
him or Obama.
People are upset because they felt President
Trump should have been harsher in his way of talking to people. Seems like they
can’t make up their minds he is either too harsh or not harsh enough. I however
feel he hit the nail right on the head when he said, “We condemn in the
strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence
on many sides, on many sides.” He did not blame one side because in order for
things to get to the boiling point they were there was more than one group at
work and he knows it, unlike much of America who wants to lay blame and accuse
all that were there with white skin tone as being white supremacists. It doesn’t
work that way. Just because they were fighting for the right to keep a piece of
history in place does not make them supremacists, it makes them American’s
proud of their history, good or bad. It is what helped form this nation and
instead of learning from past mistakes we are still making them. Shame on you!
President Trump also stated this kind of
behavior, “It has no place in America.” He went on urging American’s to
remember, “no matter our color, creed, religion or political party, we are all
Americans first. We love our country, we love our God, we love our flag, we are
proud of our country, we are proud of who we are.’
There was on person killed in this
confrontation and 19 injured due to a man driving his speeding car into another
car that was moving through the crowd of counter protesters. Why? Because they didn’t
believe as he felt they should have. Why are there counter protesters no matter
where or when a rally is set up? Why is it, no matter where you go people are
so ready to blame it all on color instead of ignorance? Why are we as a nation
repeating the same things over and over again and not learning from the past?
Because in this country we give in to those who make the greatest noise and
that’s not right.
If we are learn from our mistakes then we need
to know taking the fight to the streets is one sure way to cause a battle.
Taking the fight to the polls, to the courts, we may have a battle on our hands
but at least there will not be blood shed from our own people. Americans should
not be fighting other Americans on the streets in order to make their point.
The government should not be giving in to these groups who scream injustice or
mistreatment because of the color of their skin, their religion, or for any
other reason. When a decision is made it should be one made because it is what
is best for all of America and not just the big mouths who want to go out there
and trash all that is good.
I know many people fighting for the Unity of
the United States. They want to see this nation as a whole again and many of
these amazing people are naturalized citizens who came here legally and proud
to be able to say they are Americans. They wave that flag proudly and although
they may not agree with all of our battles fought and why, they do believe in
all of our freedoms and want to see to it we stay united and keep those
freedoms so many fought for and that includes those who fought in the Civil
War.
So now I call out to all Americans to listen to
President Donald J. Trump and start uniting in this great nation regardless of
the color of your skin. See your neighbor for the goodness in his or her heart,
see past the color of their skin and see the person, the soul, inside. We all
know there are good and bad in all races but we cannot let the bigmouths of
this world destroy us. We cannot allow the hatred of others to invade us. We
cannot allow the United States of America to be divided because as it has been
said United we stand but divided we fall. There is strength in numbers and the
United States of America has always been strong and true to itself and its
citizens. We don’t always have to agree on everything because that would make
life boring but at least let’s try to agree to Unite for the common good of all
Americans and of the United States of America. Let’s keep our country strong
and let’s keep America First as we fix our mistakes and Make America Great
Again.
May God Bless America and May all Americans Unite for
the common good of this great nation.
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