It was unsettling to say the least to see a Confederate flag displayed prominently in the photograph accompanying an article about a local auto racing enthusiast (Ross Rockett, PNR June 24).
For people with some sense of history, this flag means one thing: it is the symbol of a rogue government which fought a terrible war to defend ownership of human beings enslaved because of their skin colour and exploited to provide the artificial wealth propping up a romanticized image of the “Old South”. I should know — some of my ancestors owned and exploited black people on their plantations and fought to preserve slavery, while others fought and died to end that monstrous system.
Most North Americans recognize the Confederate flag for what it is, but apparently not in this remote corner, where it shows up on bumper stickers, car windows, and now in the local newspaper.
Grant Menzies,
Sidney