Stand up to out-of-town bullies!

I understand the concern for public safety surrounding the county’s courthouse monument, But the groups recently protesting in our city are not local Manatee County groups. The Bradenton Herald printed a front-page picture of anti-statue protesters with bright yellow signs about racism and white supremacy. At the bottoms of those signs were listed two separate sponsoring/supporting agencies: “PSLweb.org” and “ANSWERcoalition.org.” PSL is the “Party for Socialism and Liberation.” Its web site promotes the “revolutionary overturn” of capitalism, and speaks supportively of Lenin and communism. ANSWER’s web site is very anti-Israel and pro-Palestine.

Please check out these web sites before making judgments about local monuments. Some outside groups with focused agendas will slowly try to pick apart our society to the extent that citizens and leaders allow it. Where will it stop? How will it end if people don’t stand up for their cultures and learn from the accomplishments and the mistakes of history?

We expect our children to stand up to bullies, while we adults tolerate bullies from extremist points of view.

This story was originally published September 4, 2017 at 3:24 PM with the headline "Stand up to out-of-town bullies!."