LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: FLAG STANCE DOESN'T MAKE ME A LIBERAL

To the editor:

Blam! Sock! Slap! Holy jumping conclusions, Batman! My friend, Michael Jensen (letter to the editor June 27) called me a liberal just because I said it is wrong to fly the Confederate flag from a public building. Mike is upset that the Confederate flag, which is also his fraternity flag, was removed from the South Carolina Statehouse, and he published an editorial about it in his newspaper, the Standard-Democrat in Sikeston.

Golly, me a liberal? It's been 30 years since Mike and I worked side by side at the old Bulletin-Journal, and maybe he has confused me with someone else. I'm a registered Republican. My wife and kids think I'm too conservative. I believe in small, localized government, low taxes, a strong military and commonsense approaches to the environment. I'm not a tree hugger, and I believe in the separation of church and state, and separation of the public and private realms. I think those are conservative views. In my opinion, this Confederate flag issue is a matter of people trying to impose their personal symbol on a public body. The issue: Does the Confederate flag belong on the South Carolina Statehouse, or any other public place for that matter? Mike says it does. I say it doesn't, and I explained why.

Since Mike brought up Malcolm X and FUBU attire, I'll use them to illustrate my point. Mike says such clothing is offensive. I agree. I assume we also agree that clothing is a matter of personal choice. Like it or not, folk can pretty much wear whatever they want in this freedom-loving country. I would even argue they could wear the Confederate flag. However, if they want to fly their FUBU attire on a flagpole from our county courthouse, then we have a problem, because then it's not a personal choice anymore. Then it is a matter of public policy.

Mike can fly any flag he wants from his fraternity house or his private property, even the Confederate flag. It's a matter of personal choice and expression, and it is a right protected by our Constitution. He can even carry it onto public property as a matter of protest. Just don't try to fly it over the public buildings that we share, and we don't have a problem. OK? I'm sure Mike doesn't want the flags of imperialist Japan or Nazi Germany flying over the Sikeston City Hall. Both of those countries declared war on the United States, killed our soldiers and enslaved our people, and sensible people are sensitive to that.

Mike said, "Don't equate a symbol with an ideology." I didn't equate it. Rather, I said some symbols represent ideologies. That is what makes them symbols and not just abstract scribbles. Check the definition of "symbol": "Something that represents something else by association, resemblance or convention, especially a material object used to represent something invisible." I, a Texas-born Southerner, was just correctly noting that one of the things the Confederate flag symbol represents is slavery, and I referred Mike to the constitution of the Confederate States of America to prove my point. If Mike cares to read it, he can find it on the Internet, and he will see that over and over again it refers to slavery and the right to own slaves, trade slaves and transport slaves throughout the Confederate states. Slaves are referred to as property just like cattle, pigs and real estate. Mike doesn't deny that the Confederate flag is the official symbol of the Confederate States of America, yet he denies that the Confederate flag is associated with the legacy of slavery. How can he have it both ways?

Mike also stated that he works daily toward eliminating racial intolerance and that progress is coming too slowly to suit him. Knowing what he knows now, does he really think displaying the Confederate flag will speed up the process?

STEVE ROBERTSON

Cape Girardeau, Mo.