In his Feb. 27 letter, “‘Stars and Bars’ forever,” Aaron Weiner is essentially correct. The Confederate battle flag is a symbol of Southern heritage and pride. As such, it must be crushed at every turn because while he said “it is unfortunate that hate groups such as the KKK and the Neo Nazis have used the battle flag,” I must disagree. I think it is simply appropriate. I am not unsympathetic to the plight of Southern men who whole-heartedly believed they were fighting for their freedom from an oppressive federal government. Is it sad they gave their lives in that cause? You betcha. I just think with 136 years between us and the Civil War, it is time for our obviously less fortunate and less intelligent Southern brothers to get over it. Who amongst us hasn’t been on the road late at night driving through Dixie only to stop at a roadside cafe for some grits or a bar for a Shiner Boch only to get an earful from some drunk trucker going on about how the South will rise again? I know I have. The South couldn’t rise again if it took a double-dose of coke with a Viagra chaser. And for good reason. In spite of all the hullabaloo over state’s rights, the Civil War was essentially fought over slavery. Some will suggest it is naive for Northerners to maintain this. Surely we fought only to preserve the Union. Yes, that’s right, Southern states tried to back out on the great American experiment because of pressure to abolish slavery, and at that point, we fought to preserve our country. Whether these Confederate flags bear battle colors, state seals or pictures of Mickey Mouse in flagrant dilecto is irrelevant. We won, and you lost. Your great, great, great grandpappy died in vain trying to preserve a confederation of states that wanted to preserve slavery. Have you no shame? Dress it up however you wish, Mr. Weiner, the Confederacy was about slavery, and the real tragedy here is how a bunch of rich Southern pseudo aristocrats got the poor white trash from every gully and “crick” from Baton Rouge to Newport News to die in order to prop up an economy which thrived on human misery. Has the United States erred? Yes. Repeatedly. But if there is one good thing we have done, and I believe this with all my heart as a moral individual, it was to kick your sorry moonshine swilling, William Faulkner-reading, Dale Earnhardt-loving asses back into the Stone Age. The memorial your Confederate dead deserve is “Woe unto he who chooses death to force his brother to toil like a beast of the fields.” Martin Bouvier

ISU alumnus

Class of 1990