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Letters to the Editor

Forget history, and you lose the great freedom of this country

In this July 19, 2014 photo, a guide at the Atlanta History Center leads visitors through an exhibit of Civil War items in Atlanta. The items include the 5th Georgiaís battle flag that was captured by Pvt. L.C. Young of the 56th New York Regiment during fighting along Gen. William T. Shermanís March to the Sea in November 1864. Young returned it in 1884. (AP Photo/Christopher Sullivan)
In this July 19, 2014 photo, a guide at the Atlanta History Center leads visitors through an exhibit of Civil War items in Atlanta. The items include the 5th Georgiaís battle flag that was captured by Pvt. L.C. Young of the 56th New York Regiment during fighting along Gen. William T. Shermanís March to the Sea in November 1864. Young returned it in 1884. (AP Photo/Christopher Sullivan) Christopher Sullivan AP

I just heard about a push to move a Civil War statue out of a park in Lakeland and another confederate flag from a courthouse somewhere. Are we to remove all of the reminders of that time in our country's history?

Why don't we just rewrite the history books and leave that part out completely? All the ugliness of that period would be gone and we could forget it completely and our young students would never have to learn about that time in the making of this country. No one could use that period for violence today.

While we are at it, we could forget about all the lives that were lost as a result of that war. Men from every state and of every color. We could just forget them along with the rest of that period.

Oh, and while we are at it, why don't we delete World War II or someone might paint a swastika on a wall somewhere or bring up the holocaust, which according to some never happened anyway. Just rewrite history of this county again and lose the names and memories of all those who gave their lives during that period of time.

But by rewriting this country's great history, we also will lose the reason that those who protest have the right to protest. The freedom that was gained and secured by so many lives throughout history. The freedom that we have as Americans to express ourselves and to live our lives without the oppression that so many suffer each day.

It is not history or the things of history that cause men to do evil things. It is the hearts and minds of the individuals that show hate toward their fellow man. Didn't one of their sons murder the other?

Please, do not change history or lose those thing that represent the happenings of history. Our history has made us the country that we are, the home of the free.

Donald Lee Bingham

Bradenton

This story was originally published October 13, 2015 at 5:15 PM with the headline "Forget history, and you lose the great freedom of this country ."

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