Meat of the matter

There was a lot of copy in the opinion section of last Monday’s paper. Professional writers spewing their opinions as usual, but the meat was at the bottom in the Voices section.

This quote by Patrice Taylor of Little Rock: “I think that there are some people of all races that treat others badly based on the color of their skin. Changing names of things we love and removing monuments won’t change racism. Love and respect for one another will.”

When I was in grade school in the ’60s we celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Civil War. The entire year we studied the cause, the battles, the outcomes and such. Our household only got three channels. Channels 4, 7 and occasionally 11. Sixty percent of what was on TV at night were westerns. My view of the Civil War was of cowboys in blue and gray, waving swords, shooting guns and riding horses. Names like Jeb Stuart and “Stonewall” were certainly heroic monikers. I’m sure I had a Confederate flag at some point too. I know one Christmas I got a Mattel “Johnny Reb” cannon.

But as an adult who has done my fair share of reading and has a love of history, I have grown to understand the pain of slavery, the reconstruction period and the Jim Crow era to African Americans.

As a proud Arkansan, I have no problem removing reminders of those dark days in our country’s history. As an American, I know it is time for us to be “one nation under God” like we claim to be. This can only be done when America’s own people decide that they are mature enough to do so.

That being said, I also want to thank Rick Riley of Little Rock for these words of wisdom: “At age 20, I worried about what everyone thought of me. At age 40, I didn’t care what everyone thought of me. At age 60, I realized they weren’t even thinking about me!”

“Home run,” Rick.

WADE GREEN

Camden