It is now widely accepted amongst the elites, Judges, Reporters and elected politicians all across the USA, that the mere sight of Confederate Flags – indeed any Confederate symbol no matter how small – is so distressing, painful and humiliating to African Americans that they must be banned. Although slavery ended some century and a half ago, Confederate symbols are claimed to remind African Americans of the suffering of their ancestors.
At first I was inclined to dismiss the claims of distress, pain and humiliation that a mere symbol was said to be inflicting. When I took into account the proud feelings that so many in the South felt about their history and the sacrifices in battle of their ancestors, it seemed in the balance of things that taking away a freedom of expression that many prized, was extreme.
Then I thought about the distress that the sight of an American flag and other Stars and Stripes symbols have been causing for many illegal – Sorry! Undocumented – Latinos. So much distress, even anger, that public schools have felt obliged to send kids home for flying Stars and Stripes flags on their vehicles. I have become convinced that the mere sight of symbols can cause intolerable distress, indeed a sense of fear, and that America is right to ban all such symbols from public display.
I am a Christian and I am sure I speak for many Christians when I say that the mere presence in our neighborhood of a woman in a burqa makes me feel uncomfortable and unsafe. The sight of a Mosque or that Crescent flag here in America strikes a fear into my heart and gives me sleepless nights. Any Muslim symbol immediately conjures up images of the twin towers on fire and desperate people jumping to their deaths, of kneeling, hand-tied men having their necks sawn from their bodies, of men being set alight in cages, women being sold into slavery, bombed buses and mutilated bodies, explosions among crowds of marathon watchers and visions of some such horror overtaking my family at any time
The feelings of distress that I experience when confronted by Islamic symbols seem far more substantiated in the here-and-now than those caused to some people by flags. I therefore request our lawmakers to henceforth remove from public view Mosques, minarets, crescent flags, and burqas. I am sure that many millions of American citizens -even some who are undocumented- will support my call.