Dear Editor:
I want to respond to the people named the leaders of the petition to remove or move the Confederate Statue in Lewisburg. First and foremost you people are not the voice of the entire County of Greenbrier. If ever a decision is called for on this Statue then it should be made by the 36,000 or so residents that reside here. Lewisburg is the County Seat of Greenbrier County and therefore every citizen in this County should have a say about this. You can sign all the petitions you want on the internet. That is not how our government works. A few self appointed people are not going to dictate to the majority.
The majority in this County are sick and tired of this tearing down of our society. The majority have common sense which by the way is a valuable tool. These people will not stand for the tearing down, removal, destruction of or the changing of our history because you don’t like it! You should understand that this NONSENSE going on around the country right now will not be tolerated by our society much longer. It is all drawing to an end.
The expression of poking the bear in this county does not mean there will be some gentle conclusion down the road. These radical groups, Black Lives Matter, and Antifa are headed for a hard landing. This insane RIDICULOUS destroying of our Society is going to slam into the ground soon! The majority will not tolerate this insanity much longer.
I want to clarify that I am a White man, of English descent, making me even whiter than most, in my opinion! My parents, their parents, their parents and their parents and I have NEVER owned a slave! I have NEVER believed that slavery was acceptable anywhere on this planet! NOT EVER! Seeing a Confederate Statue is nothing more than a reminder of how far we have grown. A point in HISTORY!
This Country is having a 244th birthday this Saturday. YES, we have had a lot of turmoil, we have made a lot of mistakes along the way as a Nation. We are a continuously evolving work of humanity. I personally love the United States. My father fought in WWI in France. I had a half brother that was killed in WWII flying a bomber earning him the Navy Cross. I have another brother that served in Korea. I served in Viet Nam. My mother ran the Local Draft Board number 4 in Lewisburg. My family served this country, and I am so proud that we did. I’d go back and do it all again if I could.
The people that started this petition need to read the PREAMBLE to the Constitution. The beginning, the first thing they say, “WE THE PEOPLE, IN ORDER TO FORM A MORE PERFECT UNION…” To me they are saying, “We realize we are not perfect, we are only human beings but we think we have a real chance at making this Nation a special place like no other on this Earth.” They didn’t say we are all knowing and we won’t make any mistakes along the way they knew we are only human.
I know the people that started this petition have good hearts and good intentions but you CANNOT make our History change by hiding or destroying our reminders that we actually made some mistakes along the way. Statues are nothing more than a reminder of our PAST. We have evolved and we have all grown. It really is THAT simple. If you really think otherwise you are looking for an excuse.
James Livesay
Ronceverte
