4 A
❘
WEDNESDAY EDITION
❘ AUGUST 23, 2017
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
NED HICKSON , EDITOR
Opinion
❘ 541-902-3520 ❘
NHICKSON @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
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L ETTERS
LETTERS
S TATUES REPRESENT ‘ GLORY
DAYS ’ OF SLAVERY
After reading the letter “Erasing
Symbolism Is Its Own Kind of Hatred”
(Siuslaw News, Aug. 19), I felt com-
pelled to respond.
The writer implies that the current
controversy over removing Confederate
statues is an attempt to, as he said, “Re-
fashion history.”
That is not the case.
Erecting those statues in the first
place, however, did just that. They were
commissioned to cast the failed
Confederacy in a different light, or as
the writer says, “...to re-fashion history
in order to make it fit within a particular
paradigmatic viewpoint.”
The placement of most of those stat-
ues actually goes well beyond the desire
to revise history; they were a reaction to
efforts to change the lives of African-
Americans in the South. The number of
monuments surged each time those in
power felt threatened by change: in the
early 1900s when the NAACP was
formed; after WWII when Black ser-
vicemen and women returned home
after experiencing life with more free-
dom; and during the Civil Rights era of
the 1950s and ’60s.
The statues were placed by white
politicians to remind the populace of the
“glory days” of the Civil War. As they
glamorized and immortalized those
who fought for the continuation of slav-
ery, they proclaimed the message that
any move away from white supremacy
would not be tolerated.
These monuments were created with
public funds and placed in city squares,
near county courthouses and in promi-
nent spots beside state capitals. Imagine
the propaganda value alone of such
placement.
Imagine also the reality that the taxes
of African-Americans were used to cre-
ate shrines to those who fought for their
continued enslavement.
Advocating for the removal of
Confederate statues is not a “feel good
mantra.” It is a call to see those monu-
ments for what they truly represent and
to determine that we, as Americans, will
no longer stand for that revisionist view
of history.
—Lucinda Hughes
Florence
C LAIM TO FAME LACKS
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
The historical context is that
Confederate monuments memorialize
men whose claim to fame was taking up
arms against the United States of
America.
—Judy Kinsman
Florence
I T TAKES TWO TO FIGHT
As everyone knows there were riots
in Charlottesville. However, it has
amazed me how one-sided the reporting
has been.
Let’s get something straight: I have
no use for the KKK, white supremicists
or any kind of racists, no matter the
color of their skin.
Yes, all racists are not white.
That is a fact.
When the Black Lives Matter folks
where calling for the killing of police
and then police were killed by a black
man, should that have been considered
racist, a hate crime or terrorist act?
As President Trump said, he con-
demned all sides because the stupid
white racists couldn’t have a riot by
themselves.
No, their needed to be more stupid
people for that to happen. That’s where
groups like Black Lives Matter and the
Antifa show up to make sure there was
a fight.
Those were the folks in Berkeley,
Calif., who tore the place up to ensure
that they were the only ones to use their
First Amendment rights.
It always takes two to fight. And by
condemning one and not the other, you
are saying freedom of speech is only a
right if you agree with it.
There is a reason we have a Bill of
Rights, which affords us freedoms no
other country on this planet has. If we
don’t see and protect that, then we are
doomed to lose.
The white nationalists racists had a
permit to march — so let them march.
Don’t cover it on TV.
And bury anything about it in the
sports section of newspapers.
They are a very small and, in my
opinion, insignificant bunch of idiots
who will not be missed. The other set of
idiots can be kept at bay by the police
(that’s their job ).
Do that, and you only have one group
of haters to worry about — and one
does not a riot make.
It probably won’t make the Sunday
talk shows, but at least one young lady
would still be alive.
—David T. Eckhardt
Florence
E DITORIAL UNFAIR TO
P RESIDENT T RUMP
I met Ned Hickson when I first
moved to Florence in 2001. I have
always liked Ned and was pleased when
he became editor of The Siuslaw News.
However, since he has been editor I find
that the newspaper has become increas-
ingly more left-leaning,
In Ned’s commentary (“Sign On
Hwy 101 Shows That No Place Is
Immune To Hate”) in the Saturday, Aug.
19, edition, he spoke of a sign that a
bigoted racist had put on highway 101.
He linked that sign back to what he
called President Trump’s ambiguous
statement of where blame should be
placed in the Charlottesville protest.
I saw nothing ambiguous when
President Trump said both sides shared
the blame. To link the motivation for
someone to place that awful sign on
highway 101 back to our President is
unfair and unfounded.
If I were a conservative business
owner in Florence, I wouldn’t use such
a biased, left-leaning media source in
which to advertise.
—Pamela Richardson
Florence
S TATUES BELONG IN
MUSEUMS , NOT TOWN
SQUARES
This past Saturday, there were two
Letters to the Editor: One defended
Confederate monuments, and one
defended President Trump.
Let me say first that I am not a mem-
ber of Antifa or Black Lives Matter.
However, I do agree with the position
that the statues glorifying Confederates
and the Confederate flag must be
removed and put into a museum — not
to change history but to be more truth-
ful about our history.
The Confederate generals were mem-
bers of the United States military before
they denounced the U.S. and began
fighting for the Confederacy. They
were technically traitors of the young
United States. They were not then —
nor are they now — heroes.
They urged the Southern states to
secede from the United States primarily
because they wanted to preserve the
slavery of black men and women.
The Confederacy lost the Civil War.
We don’t normally erect statues to trai-
tors. The bulk of these monuments were
put into place during the Jim Crow era
of the early 1900s and during the Civil
Rights movement of the 1960s.
And they were put there to intimidate
those fighting for civil rights.
The monuments to the Confederacy
should be placed in a museum with an
explanation of their history.
In contrast, George Washington and
Thomas Jefferson, while slave owners,
are honored for their contributions in
establishing this great nation and the
Declaration of Independence.
The Confederates, by comparison,
were trying to rip this nation apart.
I watched Donald Trump’s press con-
ference last Tuesday, when he equated
the neo-Nazis and the KKK to the
counter-protesters. Many older veter-
ans who fought the Nazis in WWII
would be horrified by those carrying the
Nazi flag, in essence openly disrespect-
ing our veterans.
To me, President Trump disrespected
our WWII veterans by defending the
indefensible neo-Nazis and their tiki-
torch-carrying mob reminiscent of
1930s Germany and meant to intimidate
counter-protesters.
Shame on anyone, including our
President, for defending bigotry, hate
and Nazis.
And shame on those who put a hate
sign on the highway in Florence.
Not in my town.
—Marybeth Marenco
Florence
See
LETTERS 5A
TO THE
P OLICY
E DITOR
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Send letters to:
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WHERE TO WRITE
Pres. Donald Trump
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
TTY/TDD Comments:
202-456-6213
www.whitehouse.gov
Gov. Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court St.
Salem, Ore. 97301-4047
Governor’s Citizens’ Rep.
Message Line:
503-378-4582
www.oregon.gov/gov
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office
Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
541-431-0229
www.wyden.senate.gov
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office
Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753/FAX: 202-
228-3997
541-465-6750
www.merkley.senate.gov
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio
( 4 th Dist.)
2134 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6416
541-269-2609
541-465-6732
www.defazio.house.gov
State Sen. Arnie Roblan
( Dist. 5 )
900 Court St. NE - S-417
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1705
FAX: 503-986-1080
Email: Sen.ArnieRoblan@
state.or.us
State Rep. Caddy
McKeown
( Dist. 9 )
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1409
Email: rep.caddymckeown
@state.or.us
West Lane County
Commissioner
Jay Bozievich
125 E. Eighth St.
Eugene, OR 97401
541-682-4203
FAX: 541-682-4616
Email:
Jay.Bozievich@
co.lane.or.us