Letter | Confederate flag: Don’t do what ISIS did and erase history

Don’t erase our past

I was horrified watching ISIS followers destroy priceless artifacts spanning thousands of years. The statuary and artwork that they have hammered to small pieces cannot be replicated.

Some of this has been dated to 7th century BC. On the same day, news reporters announced the overwhelming demands that we destroy our own history by removing Confederate monuments and hiding the battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia.

There have been calls to rename buildings and infrastructure because some of the honored namesakes were known to have owned slaves. The issues are basically the same.

ISIS fighters and those who condemn the flag are applying contemporary standards to a different time and a different place. The Islamic extremists oppose religious objects and the anti-Confederates believe the flag and monuments condone slavery.

Why don’t we demand the pyramids be destroyed? The Egyptians enslaved hundreds of thousands. The Romans enslaved people, as did the indigenous Native Americans on our own continent. This is becoming a slippery slope.

At some point, the destruction of all of history can be justified as proper opposition to slavery. Slavery was common in the northern states until 1825. The English serfs were slaves in the middle ages as they were the property of the ruling class.

Perhaps Confederate imagery should be prohibited on public property, but under such a standard, all other imagery should be prohibited as well. Research may reveal that almost every monument or historical marker may be connected to an unsavory past.

If we fail to commemorate our history, might we be preparing to repeat it?

This story was originally published July 6, 2015 at 10:44 AM with the headline "Letter | Confederate flag: Don’t do what ISIS did and erase history."