Panel is not listening

Regarding the article about the Civil War monument in the Eureka Springs cemetery, I am sorry to say this is a natural progression for the cemetery commission. They have turned deaf ears to the pleas of those of us horrified by seeing the Confederate battle flag waving on graves in our otherwise lovely burial grounds.

A few years ago three of us spoke before the commission explaining why the Confederate battle flag does not belong there because the creator of that design was very open about its meaning — white supremacy. They were not moved, nor was our mayor when I emailed him about this. The reasoning of the commission is that, well, if we allow U.S. flags to be placed on graves, we must allow Confederate battle flags as well. Does this mean that any type of flag is permissible? Nazi swastikas come to mind first.

Their other reasoning is even more baffling: If a descendant of a Confederate soldier doesn’t want that flag flying, then they will “discreetly” remove it. It should be the other way around: If a person wants that, they should place one themselves. Instead, we have members of the Sons of the Confederacy, with the commission’s permission, regularly placing those symbols of white supremacy on graves.

There is an official flag of the Confederate States of America that could be placed on those graves instead of the battle flag we are all familiar with, but that fell on deaf ears as well. And now this monument has been placed there. As I said, a natural progression.

WANDA NYBERG Eureka Springs