Wreath or No Wreath?

Well, now there's a controversy over where to place wreaths for Memorial Day. Several professors sent a petition to President Obama asking him to not place a wreath on the Confederate Memorial in Arlington National Cemetery because the monument is "a denial of the wrong committed against African-Americans by slave owners, Confederates and neo-Confederates through the monument's denial of slavery as the cause of succession and its holding up of Conferates as heroes" and "implies that the humanity of Africans and African-Americans is of no signifigance". What a load of crap, hogwash, bunk, and any other term you would like to use!

First of all, the monument in itself does not deny any of the wrong that was committed against the slaves before and during the war. The monument stands as a memorial to the brave men who fought for their land. It seems that the myth that says that all Southerners owned slaves is rearing its ugly head again. Most of the soliders that fought in the Confederacy did not own slaves. They were bravely and honorably fighting for the side of their homeland. I wholeheartedly agree with the wrongness of slavery and that it was time for it to go, but at the same time, I can also understand why so many fought on the side of the South. Just because they were members of the Confederate Army doesn't make them less brave, less heroic, or less honorable than the soliders from the North.

Secondly, the humanity of Africans and African-Americans is certainly not made less significant because of a memorial honoring war dead. Humanity of all people is degraded by the actions of others. All people should be treated with respect and should not be demeaned because of their color, language, nationality, or beliefs. We should all strive to honor all people at all times.

While I vastly disagree with most of the President's agenda and ideas, I do agree with what he did. He did place a wreath at the Confederate Memorial and he also placed a wreath at the African-American Civil War Memorial. I know there will still be some people angry because he still placed a wreath at the "offending" memorial as well as some that will be angry because he placed another wreath at the African-American memorial. But one can't make everyone happy all the time. All I have to say to these people is "build a bridge and get over it"! Both groups deserve to be honored because of their bravery and fortitude in the middle of the darkest, toughest, most confusing time in our nation's history!