Take down those monuments
Civil War monuments should come down.
“No one is born is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate. . . .” That’s how Nelson Mandela, president of South Africa, saw it. The Civil War may be over, but identity as destiny and exploiting noncitizens, remain.
Both the monuments and the institutions of this culture should come down. The new Jim Crow of today, described in 2010 by San Francisco civil rights attorney Michelle Alexander, should be rejected. Identity as destiny and the exploitation of noncitizens remain California monuments to Civil War culture.
“We need to understand that we are not each other’s enemies in this countty. And it is only the political class that derives power by creating friction. It’s only the media that derives its importance by creating friction. This is not who we are.”
That’s how physician and now cabinet member, Ben Carson, saw it. Mandela taught that if people “can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”
Outrage can be cultivated. So can a sense of community.
Richard Bailey, Reedley
This story was originally published August 15, 2017 at 2:14 PM with the headline "Take down those monuments."