Georgians shouldn't compromise on flag's design

Editor:

I guess I have to be one who would disagree with Barry Paschals solution of appointing a commission to choose a flag for the people of Georgia to vote on (column, Dec. 4).

I would consider myself a moderate on most issues, even concerning the battle flag, as I am living in South Carolina and fully supported the compromise here that was drafted by a black Democrat from Charleston. The battle flag we had on the dome here represented no existing political entity, therefore rightfully had no permanent place on the dome. Its place next to a statue dedicated to the 20,000 men of South Carolina who fought and died for South Carolina is where it should have been all along.

The Georgia flag, on the other hand, was the official flag of the state of Georgia, and the voters of Georgia should have had a say about it being replaced, just as the people in Mississippi did. Apparently the people in Georgia spoke very loudly in the last election, but the powers that be still are not listening. Perhaps the new governor and legislature should listen to the people of their state more closely and not just the NAACP, SPLC, and other pressure groups.

It would seem obvious that this issue is a real sore spot with the majority of people there and that they consider the official state flag - or "Jesse Jackson rag," as

others may like to call it - to be illegitimate. My suggestion would be to do as the governor-elect promised in his campaign, and hold a referendum for the people to decide the issue. Why are so many opposed to this?

I see no reason why an appointed commission, such as Paschal suggests, is needed to decide which flags are to be chosen from, when the flag truly in dispute is the present state flag. The two flags to be chosen from by the voters are already obvious to all. The people of Georgia apparently see their ancestors not as the traitorous scum that the establishment projects, but rather as patriots of the South who tried their best to prevent a war criminal named William T. Sherman from perpetrating and getting away with an massive atrocity, much of which is still unknown to a large segment of the general public.

This culture war demonizing and Nazifying our ancestors needs to end, but it's not going to end as long as the media refuses to see both sides of issues such as this. Their efforts are not going to the lightest dent in the huge problems of fatherless children, gangs, drug use, violence, rampant racist attitudes against whites, joblessness and the myriad of other seemingly hopeless problems plaguing the black underclass in this country.

Dancing on the graves of the ancestors of Southern whites is not going to "bring us all together." Telling the whole truth might be a start. Reconstruction is over!Enough said.

Johnny Wilbanks

Goose Creek, S.C.