I too have been following the discussion and Wes Britton's post hit
home. I visited my parents' grave this year in south Georgia. As I
stood there looking at my family's graves I noticed not too far away
the Rebel flag flying high over a grave. There were people there, so
I did not intrude, but I was curious to know what was meant and
intended by flying this flag so openly in a public cemetery, and I
wondered what the others (people of color) in the community thought
about it. In south Georgia this symbol flies in many yards, and on
the back of many bumpers and in rear-view windows. So I have wondered
whether to contact the church management and perhaps the local
mayor's office and inquire about this practice in their community.

But I concluded that its best that we all are able to see these
things, and hear these things, and to inquire about and discuss their
meanings. It serves a greater purpose for sober minds to see and hear
different views and beliefs, that we are able to keep these aspects
of humanity out in the open where they can be seen, touched and
debated, and not hidden where they may fester as Wes points out. I
may change my mind at some point about the Rebel flag flying nearby
my parents' grave, I don't know. It would be interesting to talk to
the owners of that flag to learn more about their intentions. But I
would not want to attempt to create ahead any sort of fictional
account about what I thought was on their minds, even as seemingly
obvious the provocation might appear to be.

I am disappointed that so much venom was directed toward a list
member. Are we all such wonderful mind readers? Or, is it the case
nowadays that we are no longer capable of civil discourse, and are
simply ready and willing for the trap door to be sprung and questions
asked later or not at all? Our society has become very much a "if you
are not with me you are against me" sort of place. Its no wonder that
the prevailing national political rhetoric is so unappealing to more
and more people because of the intensity of those who are so deeply
entrenched toward the far side of the left or right that they can no
longer hold even casual conversations with friends on the other side,
and fall into a pattern of posturing and arguing about who is more
supportive of our troops than the other. I have to be careful now
when visiting certain relatives and friends, lest I stir up a hornets
nest of bad karma centered around politics, religion, and ivory tower
perceptions.

Many of my academic friends in the USA have told me that they are
abandoning ship because of what they describe as governmental,
societal and university administrative intolerance toward politically
and socially sensitive positions expressed by some scholars. It seems
that our society and especially our intellectuals are having to walk
on eggshells, and this serves as a severe limitation on freedom of
thought and expression. So withdrawing from the forum does not seem
to me to be the answer, and I hope that Wes does not decide to do so.

Steve Crawford
Jyväskylä, Finland